fire_911medic
Forum Crew Member
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Had a partner several years ago that was known for having fun. We worked for a industrial EMS company (contracted out) for a major auto maker which had a test track on site. My partner and I both worked nights on the weekend so the place was essentially dead during our shift with the exception of the rare maintenance person or cleaning crews. Even security was hard up to be found. Well, it was the first warm night we'd had and we noticed they were leaving the gates to the test track open. We'd both always wanted to see it, so we took this little converted catering cart turned ambulance (you always knew if the person was really sick or looking to get out of work by whether they rode on the stretcher - you had to hold it with one hand so it didnt fly out the back and drive with the other) out onto the test track to look around.
Well, they had this really steep hill that they used to test the brakes on (like a 30 degree grade hill) and at the bottom of it was a cobbled area to simulate rough road to test the shocks. Well, my partner and I were wild as bucks at the time and looked at the hill and decided it would be a great idea if we gave the catering cart ambulance a "test run"...RIIIIIGHT. Just shy of the top of the hill, the stretcher released - too much tension - and rolled down the hill backwards. My partner, suprised, jumped on the horn (which was foot activated right next to the gas), and jerked forwards. We went flying down the hill, siren wailing, and us screaming our heads off. We hit the bottom with the "rough road" and the abrupt change caused the thing to turn on it's side spilling us out. This happened just as security made their rounds and saw us doing this....
Fortunately, security was run by fire and the captain on that night, was also a fire captain with the department my partner worked for part time. He simply walked over and told us not to kill ourselves and walked off. It's a miracle we didn't get written up for it. Nothing was damaged fortunately and needless to say we did NOT repeat our test track stunt !
Well, they had this really steep hill that they used to test the brakes on (like a 30 degree grade hill) and at the bottom of it was a cobbled area to simulate rough road to test the shocks. Well, my partner and I were wild as bucks at the time and looked at the hill and decided it would be a great idea if we gave the catering cart ambulance a "test run"...RIIIIIGHT. Just shy of the top of the hill, the stretcher released - too much tension - and rolled down the hill backwards. My partner, suprised, jumped on the horn (which was foot activated right next to the gas), and jerked forwards. We went flying down the hill, siren wailing, and us screaming our heads off. We hit the bottom with the "rough road" and the abrupt change caused the thing to turn on it's side spilling us out. This happened just as security made their rounds and saw us doing this....
Fortunately, security was run by fire and the captain on that night, was also a fire captain with the department my partner worked for part time. He simply walked over and told us not to kill ourselves and walked off. It's a miracle we didn't get written up for it. Nothing was damaged fortunately and needless to say we did NOT repeat our test track stunt !