I did something very similar, only dumber and more expensive. With the number of hours we drive, it’s pretty expected that crap like this happens from time to time. You absolutely did the right thing by self-reporting the accident.
You’ll be fine- all you’ve shown is that you have the right attitude towards accountability, and that means a lot. Ask for some driver training hours. Asking for remediation from your training department shows commitment to improvement. A good company will respect that.
(In my case, all that happened to me was my boss’s boss laughed at me and called me a dumbass, and I got three hours OT for driving remediation. The remediation actually helped me be a more confident driver, so that was for the good!)
Too bad you’re the first person to ever crash an ambulance. :(
Jokes aside 75% of my friends in EMS have been involved in accidents by the time they hit 5 years. I have yet to have mine but all of our days will come. Just don’t make it a habit.
If it makes you feel better, I scraped the side of the ambulance against the garage door when drive to pull out from an awkward position, fucked up the garage door and scraped up the top left side of the ambulance, I got a lot of shit from everyone for a bit but no one really cared. Like your boss said, it happens
You might get razzed by other staff just because, most people have been there. Your boss essentially said “it’s chill” if they didn’t like you or were going to “tank” your future, they would’ve given you hell.
The best advice I can give you is this: don’t hit things with the ambulance. I know it can be very enticing to use that several ton pile of Band-Aids and plywood to smash into things, but no matter how loud the intrusive voices scream to do it, just ignore them.
Shit happens man. Ambulances are big stupid fucking vehicles. If you can find me an ambulance older than six months that doesn’t have some dings and scratches on it and isn’t babied by some ritzy fire department, I will be remarkably impressed.
Important piece of advice I got, and there is actual solid data backing this up: rolling the bus is negatively correlated with patient outcome.
There is a lot less data to support the idea that scratched paint affects patient care, though.
In my many decades behind the bus wheel I have hit all kinds of shit. You did it the right way and fessed up. The statistics say you're going to do it like every 8 th year of daily operation so look at it that you got the next seven years to go.
Lol we just had a probie do this exact thing, hit the guard post at the pumps bending the metal above the tire, but with the Engine. And it was right in front of the fire chief, assistant fire chief, and our battalion chief. They were all there to present a life save award. He was so upset with himself and worried he was going to be fired. The chief himself said the same thing, "it happens". They gave him some jokes but ultimately he was fine and you will be too.
Read the first sentence and was just thinking, "Please don't be one of mine, please don't be one of mine."
But it happens. Slow down, pay better attention to what you're doing, swing a little further away from the pole than you think you need to. When in doubt, get a spotter. At least you didn't hit a nursing home. Or the hospice house. Or the hospital. Or another ambulance. Or a parked car.
You'll feel dumb for a little while, and then everyone will forget it and you'll move on. It's that simple. No one was hurt and they have insurance on the trucks
My agency just got in 2 brand new trucks about half a month ago. Within a week, both had damage. One hit a deer going down the road; the driver's side door doesn't open/close right anymore. The other backed into the ambulance bay, denting the bay door and the back bumper got pushed in. Management LOVED that, hahah
Years ago we instituted a strict backing policy, where the ONLY time you did not have to have a person assigned as a backer was at the hospital and you were giving life saving treatments (cpr). Or you were in a vehicle by yourself- but you had to get out and do a walk around . Cut down our backing damages to almost nothing.
Shit happens. Considering your manager said “it happens” I wouldn’t be too worried about it. We drive so much that an accident is bound to happen. I know a few EMTs who’ve done similar. I also know a few EMTs who’ve done worse and are still employed. Used to work for an IFT company and my old partner ended up shaving the light bar clean off the top of the rig after saying he didn’t need a backer. The CEO was with us when it happened. He’s still employed there.
I did the same thing but on a new mod. Felt horrible, even offered to pay for repairs. My boss laughed in my face, told me to do an incident report and I never heard about it again. You’ll be fine, if happens. Proud of you taking accountability though.
How does this happend,how do you get hit by a big box? You are always supposed to have a spotter when backing up and doesn’t the ambulance beep in reverse?? I’m saying both are at fault!
Shit happens. If you think you could use practice find a deserted parking lot and have your partner spot you while you practice weaving forwards and backwards through cones or similar. It doesn’t have to be anything official.
Sounds like a write up and evoc refresher. Considering Emts are fresh with a driver license, it tends to happen more often than we would like. I have driven away with the gas hose still attached and had plenty of other employees hit fire squads, civilian vehicles , parking garage awnings, and the hospital itself.
i once took out the awning of a christian nursing home. i once hit a power pole backing into my first peds call and made the pole lean towards the house. it happens and it’s apart of the job. the important thing is you see where you went wrong and try not to do it again.
I’ve got a dumber story, but if I tell it I’ll basically dox myself, so just know… it was dumb and worse lol
Don’t be too hard on yourself, fender benders happen and it’s the accountability you take that matters. Like others have said, being up front about it was the best course of action, and you’ll be better in the future.
Breathe. Learn. Move on.
Not the first to clip a pole ( i did it back in 97) and you won’t be the last. Don’t beat yourself up too much about it, that’s what insurance is for..
I once watched a person attempt to drive an ambulance from one Bay to the other inside of the garage. They broke both garage doors and ripped the antenna out of the top. He was drug tested and made fun of mercilessly for about a week, maybe ten days.
This is the first time I've thought about it in a couples years, you're fine. Your boss is right. Never try to hide the little things, or big things for that matter.
Always considered myself a relatively aware & safe driver. But then I took out a Mailbox one day randomly. Accidents happen. If it’s not a trend, I’d imagine most departments shrug it off. If you get into multiple within a period at our department, they make you watch re-education training.
It sucks but it’s really not a big deal at all. A big deal would be you totaled the truck and injured several others including your partner a patient.
Meh. Give it a few days and you’ll find something else to feel silly about and also someone else will do something much worse.
I spent my first year in ems feeling dumb all the time. We shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves. Our environment is constantly changing and we’re constantly having to sort information that may not even be valid and then make decisions based on that. We also don’t always have all the resources or the best resources we need.
People play bumper cars with our units. Obviously you don’t want to crash, but if you do, you’ll just catch a little shit about it, maybe a lot, and possibly get a write up, which disappears after a year. It’s really not a big deal. From what it sounds like, your boss doesn’t seem to think it’s all that big of a deal either. People clip boxes on stuff all the time.
A similar thing happened to me when I was starting. If your place works the same, you may get a talking to, but no one got hurt, and it sounds like the truck is still useable, so nothing will likely come out of it.
I get your nervousness about it, but in a career line where potential mistakes can lead to people not seeing tomorrow a small bend on an ambulance's frame isn't something anyone with their head on straight is gonna sweat. You'll be okay.
lol I did exactly this about 4 weeks ago. After weeks of "investigations" and some kind of crash jury review by powers unseen, I was ruled at fault (of course, it was not the post's fault after all), and it finally culminated with a meeting with my union rep and my manager where we all laughed about it. Obviously, try not to crash the ambulance. **¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯**
It does happen. Can’t tell you how many ambulances in my agencies had the that piece bent or broken because of the exact same situation . It was an accident and you didn’t take the rig oos because of it. No big deal. May get your balls busted for it but that’s it
That isn’t even a “crash” imo! I think every one of my colleagues has damaged an ambulance in some way. Most commonly busting the side mirrors on things, scraping the sides on some sort of post, or denting the back bumper. I definitely felt embarrassed and dumb when I had to report when I damaged one. But literally no one remembers it but me, nor do they care.
I was backing the engine into the bay and backed it straight into the ambulance that was parked behind us. I didn’t see it because my dumb ass didn’t look.
It does indeed happen. If you’ve never hit anything, you haven’t been driving long.
I absolutely smoked a bystanders mirror once, reduced to smithereens. My bosses only reaction was to say nice, I’ll mandate you to drive next few shifts cause I know you love it( I hate driving 😂)
If you haven't clipped something in the ambulance you're lying. Mine was an awning it was already bent to shit from so many others. And the ambo just had some scratches xD
Town fd here, we’ve had the following incidents…
1) Someone backed the ambu into the hospital bay pillar, turning the back bumper corner upward. It’s still getting fixed up after a month.
2) I backed into the fire station door frame with the old ambulance, but was extremely nervous (still am) driving the new one.
C) Someone BEACHED A FIRE TRUCK ON A FIELD. It had to get towed.
but every culprit still works at the station :) It really does happen. Worst thing you could’ve done was cover it up, but you didn’t. You’ll be fine
A lot of people where i work have crashed the rig and not gotten fired. I crashed into a roof corner the same way you did while making a turn. It was described to me the way i crashed. Apparently i came around the corner clearing the first half of the ambulance and scraping towards the middle. Just make sure you check the review to make sure the back clears after the front does. Think of it as if you’re driving a pencil. I made a report and all that and i was fine. You’ll be fine don’t worry about that. They might pee test you but thats a different battle than described.
If you have already had an EVOC course, go back to those folks for a refresher. If you haven't, then find one, or if you are in a small enough area that they don't have any easily available, find the best driver in your company and ask them if they will throw a couple cones out in the parking lot and give you some pointers.
Like you said, you did the right thing and reported it. So now you figure out how to not make the same mistake twice. And getting help from other people, either formally through a class or informally, is how you do that.
I was fired after turning into a bollard badly enough to need to replace the entire door. Not patient loaded, thank goodness. And this was the fourth time I had hit stuff. First time it was serious, but there were enough times scraping mirrors and the like that it was a pattern.
I was given my last check and I asked if I could reapply if hI got better at driving, and my manager said he would rehire me in a heartbeat if I could demonstrate I wouldn't make the same mistake. I took a one day EVOC driving course, the instructor, a medic, wrote a letter saying that, although I was not good at the beginning of the day, after eight hours, he would have been comfortable having me as his EMT partner driving him around.
I forwarded that letter on to the company, and I was back on the schedule 48 hours later.
My driving was way worse than yours – you get fired for repeatedly showing a lack of skill, not for a single instance unless it is truly egregious. But it was just a skill issue, and skills can be learned.
Don't try to figure it out on your own. I mean, you *can*; there is nothing wrong with getting better by just teaching yourself, but you don't have to do that. You work with people. And in my experience, people who are really good at something like driving like to be recognized for their skills, and like demonstrating their skill by showing others how to do it.
So long as you don't overdo it to the point of being pushy, asking people for help is a compliment. "Hey, Diane? You saw that I bashed up the A192, right? You drive good. If we are both in the base and you aren't doing anything else, would you mind watching me and seeing what I am doing wrong and give me some advice?"
People aren't going to, and shouldn't, give up sleep time or study time to help you out, but if it is a choice between helping you drive better or a Law and Order rerun that you have seen twice already, they may well prefer to give you some pointers.
I did rhe same thing pulling into the ambulance bay at a large regional hospital.
Those trim pieces are designed to be damaged - it takes about a half hour to replace them.
You'll be fine.
Heck, they gave me the bent piece to take home as a souvenir.
We were doing rig checks on a reserve engine that was about thirty years past it's service life. Old open cabover Ford with some issues. I was 23 or 24 and my partner was 19 or 20. I guess that made me the senior guy. We were in an old station that had been mothballed for about 20 years and were were supposed to be bringing it back to life.
A call for CPR in progress came in and we were first due; next unit is 20 minutes behind if we are lucky, 45 if not. As we pull out of the bay it becomes clear that one of the old doors had not engaged the cam lock and the spring assist popped it open as we cleared the threshold. The entire facade collapses as the dry rotted wood gives way and takes to roll-up door with it.
Silver lining the station looked great after about a month of repairs.
Another time I was driving a brand new box and had a call for service at a motel. The overhead was clearly marked '14' overhead'
I look at my dash board and the shiny new tag reads 13'6" overhead so I pull forward. A massive, expensive high powered radio antenna had been put on our rig a few days after taking delivery and they hadn't updated the sticker.
Lesson learned, break out a tape measure and check your big antenna height. Don't trust a sticker. That was expensive and took out comms and put us OOS for the entire tour. We still ran calls, just couldn't transport, so I'd basically drop off my medic if something came ALS and I became a glorified Uber driver.
A few months into my first IFT job I backed the ambo into a parked car because I thought I had enough room to back up and turn around without a spotter
Like everyone else is saying, it happens. Look in your mirrors, be vigilant of your surroundings. Let it go and move forward :D
My work mates flipped the ambulance 5 times, my work partner crashed the ambulance into a fence in front of the police. I was reversing the ambulance into the back shed when the door came down onto the reversing cameras. Paramedics in victoria Australia crashed the ambulance. I was told when I started, you're not an ambo until you crashed the truck. You'll be ok ❤️❤️❤️
Not my fault, but had a side mirror clean taken off by an Amazon truck driving past. And they kept driving lol.
Company didn't bat an eye. Vehicles get legitimately driven into the ground, guaranteed you hitting a post is one of the smallest accidents they'll have this year.
I remember I was driving code 3 to a ped CA, and was pulling into some weekly motel with an overhang at the check in area. It was made of old, rotting wood and was starting to cave in. Didn't quite react in time and drove the box straight into this thing, scraping the ever living hell out of it. My partner and FTO were absolutely pissed at me, because I'm coming in and he's telling me to turn right. Minor damage to the roof of the Ambulance, and the owner of the building we responded to said that there wasn't any noticeable damage to their structure. But it was an experience. I remember after, my FTO said that "Everyone crashes the Ambulance".
Remember, you're driving an absolutely MASSIVE vehicle. It is big, it is wide, it is heavy and it turns with all of the grace of a cruise ship.
One of the things that was beaten into my head after that was: The G.O.A.L of driving is safety. So Get. Out. And. Look.
I started in EMS in 1997. I've driven tankers, engines, and ladder trucks. I did a 12 year stint as an over the road trucker pulling every kind of trailer, including oversized loads. Never had an accident... ever.
I quit driving OTR and went back to EMS, and two weeks into it, I hit a curb with the ambulance and blew the tire and cracked the rim... moral of the story, no matter how much experience you have or how long you've driven, eventually you going to hit something.
Use it as a learning experience and be aware of your vehicle and other obstacles at all times.
My partner went to move the ambulance while I grabbed a drink and backed the ambulance into another parked ambulance blocking the ems bay entrance he couldn't move our ambulance cuse it hooked on to the panel of the other ambulance. While he was trying to figure out what to do a stemi rolled up lights and siren's.
Your fine some times it happens.
Shit happened to me in base we were pulling out a truck and the concrete ramp was chipped and broken and caused the ambulance to wobble. I reported it to my supervisor and he goes I've seen worse.
During my first year of EMS, I got an ambulance stuck under an awning at the entrance of a rehab facility that we were dropping a patient off at. We got the patient inside and settled and then went back out to try and figure out how to get the rig unstuck. Of course I called my supervisor who was on his way. Of course this happened in a town 45 minutes away from our base. We ended up just having a couple of fat guys sit on the back bumper while I slowly backed it out from under the awning. The facility manager called the cops. We had to fill out reports. It sucked. I didn’t get into too much trouble though, just some weird looks from my supervisor and a write up.
Ps- the awning didn’t have a height sign on it, and I thought it would have fit because I checked the top before fully pulling in. I forgot about the light bar on top of the ambulance, which is what actually got us stuck.
Not an ambulance, but we had a guy take out a power pole in our rescue that resulted in $20k worth of damage to the rig and a new pole for the city, and he just had to do driver remediation 🥲
You are going to have more road hours than almost every person you'll ever meet doing this job. You will drive many miles in different areas.
You are going to hit something. Mitigating how much damage you do and ensuring no one gets hurt are the priorities. Learn from it and make sure you don't make that same mistake ever again.
Well learn your lesson and don't do it again. It does happen to many people. If it keeps happening you may find them changing their opinions though. Self reporting however is absolutely the thing to do. At my service you could murder an old lady and keep your job, as long as you self reported it and they didn't find out some other way. Of course that is an exaggeration, but not as much as you think. Hang in there and do your best always.
Did the exact same thing about 2 months in, rearranged the paint on the rig a little and put a dent in the side. Reported it, filed it, no further action. Dont sweat it, I got a situational awareness speech from my boss and that was the end of it.
i broke the nose wheel on a cessna 210 while pushing it back into the hangar at the survey company i worked for, told management right away. no one was mad or upset they were just glad i told them right away so it could get fixed right away
I crashed a rig into another vehicle when they had slammed on their breaks and I wasn’t able to stop the rig in time. It was made 10,000% clear to me I wasn’t going to lose my job, and I didn’t. Like everyone else has said shit happens and you did everything right, you’ll feel horrible for a while but you’ll get to the point where you can find a bit of humor in the whole situation!
It was a learning experience. Corrective take away: Take your turns a little longer and wider, utilize mirrors more and possible cameras and there ya go. It happens, be kind to yourself. Best wishes 🍀
hey it's ok.
i sideswiped a concrete road divider in the box once and took off most of the paint. i had a partner crash into the gas station post like you. i had another partner crash at 90mph and i had to get xrays done because i flew across the box (on christmas eve. that was a v awkward xmas).
i personally know more people who have been in ambulance wrecks when i start talking to fellow ems workers than people who haven't. they half ass our driver's ed, they have us work 24hr shifts, and they let us speed in a giant truck. what could possibly go wrong?
you're not the first. ambulance crashes are much more common than anyone'd like to acknowledge.
Dispatcher for many years here. It does happen. All. The. Time. We had a rig take a corner too quick on the way back to the station and hit a 24” boulder on the shoulder of the road and completely totaled the rig, crew was back on the road less than 8 hours later in another rig. Just part of the job when you’re driving around all day/night.
If it makes you feel any better my first month I spent our entire uniform budget ($7,000) on a bay door I clotheslined the ambulance with because I overestimated my clearance. Shit happens, and it’s nearly a guarantee when you’re driving a vehicle that’s already making you nervous. You’re alright and it seems nobody’s mad at you, take it for the small victory that is.
I’ve damaged my ambulance twice. Once when I ran over something (idk what it was) and damaged the exhaust pipe, and one when I hit an awning and scratched the top. Both times were fine and I never go in trouble just had to write an incident report. It strange that EMS company’s say they will drug test you and really scare the shit out of you to the point you don’t wanna even be around people smoking weed just incase, but then never drug test you.
I hit a jay-walker responding code 3 to a call. Jumped out from in front of a parallel parked box truck.
My boss even said, I couldn’t have avoided it. Didn’t even get a write up. Your be good.
Someone that worked for the company that sponsored my classs backed into the giant metal bollard between the bay doors. They didn't fire him, just gave him shit about it for a few weeks. Somebody else hit two different deer with the same ambulance within a week of getting it fixed from the first time. The insurance company had to have a chat to confirm it wasn't fraud 😂
You'll be fine 😌
Advise just font do it again!!! Lol, but It happens believe be once at my station, a guy put diesel fuel in a regular gas ambulance ( this guy really was stupid) there was LITERALLY a sign over the gas tank that read (Diesel Fuel only) He ended up paying for the repair which was very expensive. Also, I myself, while leaving work one night in a rush, placed a tablet on top of my car and ran over it 🫣🫣 had to pat 400.00 bucks to replace it. So, lesson learned. As long as you don't forget to do CPR on someone, I think you'll be fine. ( I know someone who forgot to do CPR on a patient)
Like your boss says. It happens. No one was hurt. You won’t do it again.
He probably will but it'll be fine again. I'd be surprised if he doesn't hit something ever again.
Oh, probably. But it won’t be a gas station post.
Luckily the ambulance will be right there
I did something very similar, only dumber and more expensive. With the number of hours we drive, it’s pretty expected that crap like this happens from time to time. You absolutely did the right thing by self-reporting the accident. You’ll be fine- all you’ve shown is that you have the right attitude towards accountability, and that means a lot. Ask for some driver training hours. Asking for remediation from your training department shows commitment to improvement. A good company will respect that. (In my case, all that happened to me was my boss’s boss laughed at me and called me a dumbass, and I got three hours OT for driving remediation. The remediation actually helped me be a more confident driver, so that was for the good!)
With the amount of driving that you do in this career it’s a matter of “when” you’re going to get into an accident not “if”.
Too bad you’re the first person to ever crash an ambulance. :( Jokes aside 75% of my friends in EMS have been involved in accidents by the time they hit 5 years. I have yet to have mine but all of our days will come. Just don’t make it a habit.
Im going to say you are probably fine.
If it makes you feel better, I scraped the side of the ambulance against the garage door when drive to pull out from an awkward position, fucked up the garage door and scraped up the top left side of the ambulance, I got a lot of shit from everyone for a bit but no one really cared. Like your boss said, it happens
Been there, done that, still here. Shit happens.
You might get razzed by other staff just because, most people have been there. Your boss essentially said “it’s chill” if they didn’t like you or were going to “tank” your future, they would’ve given you hell.
The best advice I can give you is this: don’t hit things with the ambulance. I know it can be very enticing to use that several ton pile of Band-Aids and plywood to smash into things, but no matter how loud the intrusive voices scream to do it, just ignore them. Shit happens man. Ambulances are big stupid fucking vehicles. If you can find me an ambulance older than six months that doesn’t have some dings and scratches on it and isn’t babied by some ritzy fire department, I will be remarkably impressed.
Important piece of advice I got, and there is actual solid data backing this up: rolling the bus is negatively correlated with patient outcome. There is a lot less data to support the idea that scratched paint affects patient care, though.
“It happens” is probably a good sign
In my many decades behind the bus wheel I have hit all kinds of shit. You did it the right way and fessed up. The statistics say you're going to do it like every 8 th year of daily operation so look at it that you got the next seven years to go.
Lol we just had a probie do this exact thing, hit the guard post at the pumps bending the metal above the tire, but with the Engine. And it was right in front of the fire chief, assistant fire chief, and our battalion chief. They were all there to present a life save award. He was so upset with himself and worried he was going to be fired. The chief himself said the same thing, "it happens". They gave him some jokes but ultimately he was fine and you will be too.
That's an embarrassing one for sure. In front of three top dogs.. 😂 I'm sure he won't be forgetting that one. Maybe even a new nickname
I’ve known people who have done worse, they’re happily employed still. It happens.
Read the first sentence and was just thinking, "Please don't be one of mine, please don't be one of mine." But it happens. Slow down, pay better attention to what you're doing, swing a little further away from the pole than you think you need to. When in doubt, get a spotter. At least you didn't hit a nursing home. Or the hospice house. Or the hospital. Or another ambulance. Or a parked car.
You'll feel dumb for a little while, and then everyone will forget it and you'll move on. It's that simple. No one was hurt and they have insurance on the trucks My agency just got in 2 brand new trucks about half a month ago. Within a week, both had damage. One hit a deer going down the road; the driver's side door doesn't open/close right anymore. The other backed into the ambulance bay, denting the bay door and the back bumper got pushed in. Management LOVED that, hahah
Years ago we instituted a strict backing policy, where the ONLY time you did not have to have a person assigned as a backer was at the hospital and you were giving life saving treatments (cpr). Or you were in a vehicle by yourself- but you had to get out and do a walk around . Cut down our backing damages to almost nothing.
We all do it once… take a deep breath and realize yiu are now part of the club.
Shit happens. Considering your manager said “it happens” I wouldn’t be too worried about it. We drive so much that an accident is bound to happen. I know a few EMTs who’ve done similar. I also know a few EMTs who’ve done worse and are still employed. Used to work for an IFT company and my old partner ended up shaving the light bar clean off the top of the rig after saying he didn’t need a backer. The CEO was with us when it happened. He’s still employed there.
I did the same thing but on a new mod. Felt horrible, even offered to pay for repairs. My boss laughed in my face, told me to do an incident report and I never heard about it again. You’ll be fine, if happens. Proud of you taking accountability though.
Atleast you didn’t back into your FTO. (Not me but a friend).
How does this happend,how do you get hit by a big box? You are always supposed to have a spotter when backing up and doesn’t the ambulance beep in reverse?? I’m saying both are at fault!
Who knows, FTO might have even been the backer. Get complacent when backing, and issues start.
Shit happens. If you think you could use practice find a deserted parking lot and have your partner spot you while you practice weaving forwards and backwards through cones or similar. It doesn’t have to be anything official.
Sounds like a write up and evoc refresher. Considering Emts are fresh with a driver license, it tends to happen more often than we would like. I have driven away with the gas hose still attached and had plenty of other employees hit fire squads, civilian vehicles , parking garage awnings, and the hospital itself.
That's why it's called INSURANCE
I once hit my own car while parking so I’d say your completely fine
I did it with a firetruck once turning out of the Bay too early. Probie at the time. Oops...
It happens. I’ve hit so much stuff in the ambulance. Just pass your drug test and you’re fine.
i once took out the awning of a christian nursing home. i once hit a power pole backing into my first peds call and made the pole lean towards the house. it happens and it’s apart of the job. the important thing is you see where you went wrong and try not to do it again.
I’ve got a dumber story, but if I tell it I’ll basically dox myself, so just know… it was dumb and worse lol Don’t be too hard on yourself, fender benders happen and it’s the accountability you take that matters. Like others have said, being up front about it was the best course of action, and you’ll be better in the future. Breathe. Learn. Move on.
there’s a reason they have insurance. shit happens especially at the end of shift when all ur thinking about is going home
Not the first to clip a pole ( i did it back in 97) and you won’t be the last. Don’t beat yourself up too much about it, that’s what insurance is for..
My company had five collisions last week. They all still work for us. You’ll be good!!!
I once watched a person attempt to drive an ambulance from one Bay to the other inside of the garage. They broke both garage doors and ripped the antenna out of the top. He was drug tested and made fun of mercilessly for about a week, maybe ten days. This is the first time I've thought about it in a couples years, you're fine. Your boss is right. Never try to hide the little things, or big things for that matter.
Always considered myself a relatively aware & safe driver. But then I took out a Mailbox one day randomly. Accidents happen. If it’s not a trend, I’d imagine most departments shrug it off. If you get into multiple within a period at our department, they make you watch re-education training.
It sucks but it’s really not a big deal at all. A big deal would be you totaled the truck and injured several others including your partner a patient. Meh. Give it a few days and you’ll find something else to feel silly about and also someone else will do something much worse. I spent my first year in ems feeling dumb all the time. We shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves. Our environment is constantly changing and we’re constantly having to sort information that may not even be valid and then make decisions based on that. We also don’t always have all the resources or the best resources we need.
People play bumper cars with our units. Obviously you don’t want to crash, but if you do, you’ll just catch a little shit about it, maybe a lot, and possibly get a write up, which disappears after a year. It’s really not a big deal. From what it sounds like, your boss doesn’t seem to think it’s all that big of a deal either. People clip boxes on stuff all the time.
Lol, don't sweat it. It's nearly a weekly thing at our squad, for real!, lol
A similar thing happened to me when I was starting. If your place works the same, you may get a talking to, but no one got hurt, and it sounds like the truck is still useable, so nothing will likely come out of it.
I backed the ambulance into a wall bc I had to move it and I didn’t have a backer.
I know someone thats gotten into an accident while driving a bus 5 TIMES, and still is an employee. Not that its okay but I think youll be alright
Dont forget about land lines, plugged into the side of the box! I’ve probably ripped out 5 of em
I get your nervousness about it, but in a career line where potential mistakes can lead to people not seeing tomorrow a small bend on an ambulance's frame isn't something anyone with their head on straight is gonna sweat. You'll be okay.
been there bro pray ur piss is clean
lol I did exactly this about 4 weeks ago. After weeks of "investigations" and some kind of crash jury review by powers unseen, I was ruled at fault (of course, it was not the post's fault after all), and it finally culminated with a meeting with my union rep and my manager where we all laughed about it. Obviously, try not to crash the ambulance. **¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯**
That will not be the worse thing to happen in your career. Umm that probably didn’t help much.
You’ll be happy to know how common this is lol. There are actually framed photos of these accidents posted around stations with some funny quote.
It does happen. Can’t tell you how many ambulances in my agencies had the that piece bent or broken because of the exact same situation . It was an accident and you didn’t take the rig oos because of it. No big deal. May get your balls busted for it but that’s it
That isn’t even a “crash” imo! I think every one of my colleagues has damaged an ambulance in some way. Most commonly busting the side mirrors on things, scraping the sides on some sort of post, or denting the back bumper. I definitely felt embarrassed and dumb when I had to report when I damaged one. But literally no one remembers it but me, nor do they care.
I was backing the engine into the bay and backed it straight into the ambulance that was parked behind us. I didn’t see it because my dumb ass didn’t look. It does indeed happen. If you’ve never hit anything, you haven’t been driving long.
I absolutely smoked a bystanders mirror once, reduced to smithereens. My bosses only reaction was to say nice, I’ll mandate you to drive next few shifts cause I know you love it( I hate driving 😂)
If you haven't clipped something in the ambulance you're lying. Mine was an awning it was already bent to shit from so many others. And the ambo just had some scratches xD
Town fd here, we’ve had the following incidents… 1) Someone backed the ambu into the hospital bay pillar, turning the back bumper corner upward. It’s still getting fixed up after a month. 2) I backed into the fire station door frame with the old ambulance, but was extremely nervous (still am) driving the new one. C) Someone BEACHED A FIRE TRUCK ON A FIELD. It had to get towed. but every culprit still works at the station :) It really does happen. Worst thing you could’ve done was cover it up, but you didn’t. You’ll be fine
A lot of people where i work have crashed the rig and not gotten fired. I crashed into a roof corner the same way you did while making a turn. It was described to me the way i crashed. Apparently i came around the corner clearing the first half of the ambulance and scraping towards the middle. Just make sure you check the review to make sure the back clears after the front does. Think of it as if you’re driving a pencil. I made a report and all that and i was fine. You’ll be fine don’t worry about that. They might pee test you but thats a different battle than described.
If you have already had an EVOC course, go back to those folks for a refresher. If you haven't, then find one, or if you are in a small enough area that they don't have any easily available, find the best driver in your company and ask them if they will throw a couple cones out in the parking lot and give you some pointers. Like you said, you did the right thing and reported it. So now you figure out how to not make the same mistake twice. And getting help from other people, either formally through a class or informally, is how you do that. I was fired after turning into a bollard badly enough to need to replace the entire door. Not patient loaded, thank goodness. And this was the fourth time I had hit stuff. First time it was serious, but there were enough times scraping mirrors and the like that it was a pattern. I was given my last check and I asked if I could reapply if hI got better at driving, and my manager said he would rehire me in a heartbeat if I could demonstrate I wouldn't make the same mistake. I took a one day EVOC driving course, the instructor, a medic, wrote a letter saying that, although I was not good at the beginning of the day, after eight hours, he would have been comfortable having me as his EMT partner driving him around. I forwarded that letter on to the company, and I was back on the schedule 48 hours later. My driving was way worse than yours – you get fired for repeatedly showing a lack of skill, not for a single instance unless it is truly egregious. But it was just a skill issue, and skills can be learned. Don't try to figure it out on your own. I mean, you *can*; there is nothing wrong with getting better by just teaching yourself, but you don't have to do that. You work with people. And in my experience, people who are really good at something like driving like to be recognized for their skills, and like demonstrating their skill by showing others how to do it. So long as you don't overdo it to the point of being pushy, asking people for help is a compliment. "Hey, Diane? You saw that I bashed up the A192, right? You drive good. If we are both in the base and you aren't doing anything else, would you mind watching me and seeing what I am doing wrong and give me some advice?" People aren't going to, and shouldn't, give up sleep time or study time to help you out, but if it is a choice between helping you drive better or a Law and Order rerun that you have seen twice already, they may well prefer to give you some pointers.
I did rhe same thing pulling into the ambulance bay at a large regional hospital. Those trim pieces are designed to be damaged - it takes about a half hour to replace them. You'll be fine. Heck, they gave me the bent piece to take home as a souvenir.
I have absolutely driven off with a gas pump in my ambulance
We were doing rig checks on a reserve engine that was about thirty years past it's service life. Old open cabover Ford with some issues. I was 23 or 24 and my partner was 19 or 20. I guess that made me the senior guy. We were in an old station that had been mothballed for about 20 years and were were supposed to be bringing it back to life. A call for CPR in progress came in and we were first due; next unit is 20 minutes behind if we are lucky, 45 if not. As we pull out of the bay it becomes clear that one of the old doors had not engaged the cam lock and the spring assist popped it open as we cleared the threshold. The entire facade collapses as the dry rotted wood gives way and takes to roll-up door with it. Silver lining the station looked great after about a month of repairs. Another time I was driving a brand new box and had a call for service at a motel. The overhead was clearly marked '14' overhead' I look at my dash board and the shiny new tag reads 13'6" overhead so I pull forward. A massive, expensive high powered radio antenna had been put on our rig a few days after taking delivery and they hadn't updated the sticker. Lesson learned, break out a tape measure and check your big antenna height. Don't trust a sticker. That was expensive and took out comms and put us OOS for the entire tour. We still ran calls, just couldn't transport, so I'd basically drop off my medic if something came ALS and I became a glorified Uber driver.
G.o.a.l Get out and look next time
A few months into my first IFT job I backed the ambo into a parked car because I thought I had enough room to back up and turn around without a spotter Like everyone else is saying, it happens. Look in your mirrors, be vigilant of your surroundings. Let it go and move forward :D
My work mates flipped the ambulance 5 times, my work partner crashed the ambulance into a fence in front of the police. I was reversing the ambulance into the back shed when the door came down onto the reversing cameras. Paramedics in victoria Australia crashed the ambulance. I was told when I started, you're not an ambo until you crashed the truck. You'll be ok ❤️❤️❤️
Not my fault, but had a side mirror clean taken off by an Amazon truck driving past. And they kept driving lol. Company didn't bat an eye. Vehicles get legitimately driven into the ground, guaranteed you hitting a post is one of the smallest accidents they'll have this year.
I remember I was driving code 3 to a ped CA, and was pulling into some weekly motel with an overhang at the check in area. It was made of old, rotting wood and was starting to cave in. Didn't quite react in time and drove the box straight into this thing, scraping the ever living hell out of it. My partner and FTO were absolutely pissed at me, because I'm coming in and he's telling me to turn right. Minor damage to the roof of the Ambulance, and the owner of the building we responded to said that there wasn't any noticeable damage to their structure. But it was an experience. I remember after, my FTO said that "Everyone crashes the Ambulance". Remember, you're driving an absolutely MASSIVE vehicle. It is big, it is wide, it is heavy and it turns with all of the grace of a cruise ship. One of the things that was beaten into my head after that was: The G.O.A.L of driving is safety. So Get. Out. And. Look.
I started in EMS in 1997. I've driven tankers, engines, and ladder trucks. I did a 12 year stint as an over the road trucker pulling every kind of trailer, including oversized loads. Never had an accident... ever. I quit driving OTR and went back to EMS, and two weeks into it, I hit a curb with the ambulance and blew the tire and cracked the rim... moral of the story, no matter how much experience you have or how long you've driven, eventually you going to hit something. Use it as a learning experience and be aware of your vehicle and other obstacles at all times.
Sounds pretty minor. Your supe probably has dealt with many more serious incidents than this. Probably doesn’t even make the list.
As a taxpayer i would like to autograph the damage.
It literally happens so often lol I started at an IFT and nearly every single truck had a dent in it at some point 😂😂 You good.
My partner went to move the ambulance while I grabbed a drink and backed the ambulance into another parked ambulance blocking the ems bay entrance he couldn't move our ambulance cuse it hooked on to the panel of the other ambulance. While he was trying to figure out what to do a stemi rolled up lights and siren's. Your fine some times it happens.
usually if you report it. It's fine. it's when you his something at a hospital and they call in before you do. when things get bad.
This is, basically, a right of passage for EMS. Don't feel bad. We all have done or will do it it at some point.
Happens a lot at my service. Just learn from it.
Shit happened to me in base we were pulling out a truck and the concrete ramp was chipped and broken and caused the ambulance to wobble. I reported it to my supervisor and he goes I've seen worse.
With the amount of time we spend on the road it was bound to happen at one point or another. You did the right thing
During my first year of EMS, I got an ambulance stuck under an awning at the entrance of a rehab facility that we were dropping a patient off at. We got the patient inside and settled and then went back out to try and figure out how to get the rig unstuck. Of course I called my supervisor who was on his way. Of course this happened in a town 45 minutes away from our base. We ended up just having a couple of fat guys sit on the back bumper while I slowly backed it out from under the awning. The facility manager called the cops. We had to fill out reports. It sucked. I didn’t get into too much trouble though, just some weird looks from my supervisor and a write up. Ps- the awning didn’t have a height sign on it, and I thought it would have fit because I checked the top before fully pulling in. I forgot about the light bar on top of the ambulance, which is what actually got us stuck.
Not an ambulance, but we had a guy take out a power pole in our rescue that resulted in $20k worth of damage to the rig and a new pole for the city, and he just had to do driver remediation 🥲
You are going to have more road hours than almost every person you'll ever meet doing this job. You will drive many miles in different areas. You are going to hit something. Mitigating how much damage you do and ensuring no one gets hurt are the priorities. Learn from it and make sure you don't make that same mistake ever again.
Well learn your lesson and don't do it again. It does happen to many people. If it keeps happening you may find them changing their opinions though. Self reporting however is absolutely the thing to do. At my service you could murder an old lady and keep your job, as long as you self reported it and they didn't find out some other way. Of course that is an exaggeration, but not as much as you think. Hang in there and do your best always.
Did the exact same thing about 2 months in, rearranged the paint on the rig a little and put a dent in the side. Reported it, filed it, no further action. Dont sweat it, I got a situational awareness speech from my boss and that was the end of it.
i broke the nose wheel on a cessna 210 while pushing it back into the hangar at the survey company i worked for, told management right away. no one was mad or upset they were just glad i told them right away so it could get fixed right away
23 years in ems. Crashed dented and dinged ambos more than a few times. Happens
If I had a dollar for every time I hit a pole, I would be rich.
My service is out of backup trucks because of how many have been totaled in the past year. You’re fine.
I crashed a rig into another vehicle when they had slammed on their breaks and I wasn’t able to stop the rig in time. It was made 10,000% clear to me I wasn’t going to lose my job, and I didn’t. Like everyone else has said shit happens and you did everything right, you’ll feel horrible for a while but you’ll get to the point where you can find a bit of humor in the whole situation!
At least you didn’t hit a ladder truck pulling up to a call….. 😂😂😂
It was a learning experience. Corrective take away: Take your turns a little longer and wider, utilize mirrors more and possible cameras and there ya go. It happens, be kind to yourself. Best wishes 🍀
hey it's ok. i sideswiped a concrete road divider in the box once and took off most of the paint. i had a partner crash into the gas station post like you. i had another partner crash at 90mph and i had to get xrays done because i flew across the box (on christmas eve. that was a v awkward xmas). i personally know more people who have been in ambulance wrecks when i start talking to fellow ems workers than people who haven't. they half ass our driver's ed, they have us work 24hr shifts, and they let us speed in a giant truck. what could possibly go wrong? you're not the first. ambulance crashes are much more common than anyone'd like to acknowledge.
Dispatcher for many years here. It does happen. All. The. Time. We had a rig take a corner too quick on the way back to the station and hit a 24” boulder on the shoulder of the road and completely totaled the rig, crew was back on the road less than 8 hours later in another rig. Just part of the job when you’re driving around all day/night.
If it makes you feel any better my first month I spent our entire uniform budget ($7,000) on a bay door I clotheslined the ambulance with because I overestimated my clearance. Shit happens, and it’s nearly a guarantee when you’re driving a vehicle that’s already making you nervous. You’re alright and it seems nobody’s mad at you, take it for the small victory that is.
I’ve damaged my ambulance twice. Once when I ran over something (idk what it was) and damaged the exhaust pipe, and one when I hit an awning and scratched the top. Both times were fine and I never go in trouble just had to write an incident report. It strange that EMS company’s say they will drug test you and really scare the shit out of you to the point you don’t wanna even be around people smoking weed just incase, but then never drug test you.
You drive for a living, anyone whose job is driving will eventually be in an accident
I hit a jay-walker responding code 3 to a call. Jumped out from in front of a parallel parked box truck. My boss even said, I couldn’t have avoided it. Didn’t even get a write up. Your be good.
Shiiidddt... our DIRECTOR just did this 2 weeks ago. Yeah, it happens. Even to the bossman. Hahaha.
Quick! Call 911!
People have done much worse. I have actually done this exact thing, but luckily nothing was dented and I rubbed off the yellow paint from the pole 🤣
Everything be hits shit with the apparatus at some point. Don’t stress too hard.
Someone that worked for the company that sponsored my classs backed into the giant metal bollard between the bay doors. They didn't fire him, just gave him shit about it for a few weeks. Somebody else hit two different deer with the same ambulance within a week of getting it fixed from the first time. The insurance company had to have a chat to confirm it wasn't fraud 😂 You'll be fine 😌
In the future, small bangers like that you blame on deer, it just sounds better.
It happens. Move on, be more careful next time.
I got in an accident in the ambulance one time \*with a patient in the back\*. Shit happens. Everyone is safe, that is the important thing
Almost everyone in our dept has damaged a squad while driving it in one way or another
You're not used to driving a large/wide vehicle. Just try to learn from this and don't do it again.
Never ever admit fault. Always play dumb
Pole came out of fucking nowhere
Advise just font do it again!!! Lol, but It happens believe be once at my station, a guy put diesel fuel in a regular gas ambulance ( this guy really was stupid) there was LITERALLY a sign over the gas tank that read (Diesel Fuel only) He ended up paying for the repair which was very expensive. Also, I myself, while leaving work one night in a rush, placed a tablet on top of my car and ran over it 🫣🫣 had to pat 400.00 bucks to replace it. So, lesson learned. As long as you don't forget to do CPR on someone, I think you'll be fine. ( I know someone who forgot to do CPR on a patient)