Man steals ambulance to go to topless bar

Anjel

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drl

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In my area, it's standard practice for county 911 rigs to be left running outside the ER. Granted, they're usually locked since there's two sets of keys, and it's also county policy to always lock ambulances. I'd imagine it's even more of a regular practice to keep ambulances running in colder areas that have diesel rigs.

In all though, glad no one was hurt and that the rig is undamaged! Could've turned out a lot worse.
 

Angel

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i dont get this either. at my company they are left running on scene, not locked and at the er. usually doors open. i guess its a risk they are willing to take (all ambulances have tracking)
 
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Anjel

Anjel

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We honestly leave them running because we are afraid they won't start back up again.

I think the problem could be solved with 2 sets of keys.
 

Angel

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we have sprinters and it wont lock if the key is are in or the rig is on
 

cruiseforever

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I was under the impression most of the ambulances were equiped to remove the keys with the ambulance running. I see that is not the case. We always leave it run at the scene and at the ERs if it's really cold out.
 

DesertMedic66

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I was under the impression most of the ambulances were equiped to remove the keys with the ambulance running. I see that is not the case. We always leave it run at the scene and at the ERs if it's really cold out.
No removable keys here. We carry 2 sets. 1 set in the ambulance to keep the engine running at all times and the other is usually kept with the EMT.
 

irishboxer384

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its really easy to install a mechanism that automatically locks the vehicles on a timer, with the engine running, that way if you 'forget' to lock it the auto mechanism kicks in. ...obv you still require two sets of keys for it.
 

Handsome Robb

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We have hidden external unlock buttons. Per company policy rigs are to be left running unless specifically specified by the hospital we're dropping off at but even then if it's cold we still idle them.

All our units have GPS tracking and a giant screen with a map and each ambulance on it .
 

Kevinf

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Jim37F

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We only have one set of keys per ambulance. Not only do we leave the rig running, it's policy that we engage the parking break every single time both crew members leave the ambulance, which engages the high idle. (Having someone think they shifted into park but in reality only in neutral combined with no parking break engaged equals ambulance that rolled into a parked car by the time they are walking back to load the patient and said parking break policy was born).

So our ambulances are running, unlocked while on scene 99% of the time. We do shut them off at the hospital though, but rarely lock them...about the only time where we lock them is if we go to the store or lunch or whatever, although one of our stations we have to park outside in the driveway since there's no room in the apparatus bay, so I at least regularly lock it then, especially if the bay door is closed.
 

AtlasFlyer

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In the winter we leave ambulance running if they're outside (staged, on scene or at a hospital with an outdoor parking bay). When they're running they're unlocked. Even when they're not running, 95% of the time the keys are still in them, we rarely take the keys out. All our ambulances are GPS tracked, and we've had exactly 1 instance of one being stolen that I can remember ever hearing about. It was taken from an ambulance bay and found on a golf course within half an hour.
 

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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@Anjel I saw it on WDIV.com and thought of you! The only thing better than the story was the guy's mugshot.

You really don't have GPS tracking in your rigs? I remember reading this story a few years ago, I thought it was a done deal.
 
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Anjel

Anjel

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@Anjel I saw it on WDIV.com and thought of you! The only thing better than the story was the guy's mugshot.

You really don't have GPS tracking in your rigs? I remember reading this story a few years ago, I thought it was a done deal.

We did for about the first year I worked there and then they took them all out for some reason. No one really knows why.
 
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