Great news today - thought I would share with my PH mates :D
Discussion
MonkeyMatt said:
I expect a full write up of the perfomance and handling charateristics of your new company wheels! Well done!
It will be a contest between the older, 55 / 56 plate Merc Sprinters, the newer 61 plate Merc Sprinters which are bigger and about a tonne heavier than the old ones, but with more power - and the RRV cars, which are Ford Mondeo Weasels with several hundred extra kilos of battery, radio gear and Paramedic bags carried in the boot....We still favour the older Sprinters - despite them being a bit battle-weary now, many with 4 to 5 hundred thou on the clock - they still give relatively good performance, are quite forgiving handling wise, and respond quite well to being thrown about. At less than 10/10ths, they are a fairly decent place to be in with regard to being able to attend to a patient, assemble drugs and stuff, and either write on forms or enter details into the portable computers.
To drive, they are quite planted, find grip and traction that sometimes leaves me in awe on the odd occasion when I am convinced I am about to meet my maker...and still lift up their skirts and go North of 100mph when required. That said, I have also been in quite a few which have suffered a breakdown of some description or another - with possibly the worst when doing an urgent run to hospital with a very sick patient one day, when the thing suffered a catastrophic engine failure on the motorway and expired spectacularly in a huge cloud of smoke. Fortunately, we managed to get another vehicle with us quite quickly and transfer the patient successfully, who suffered no ill effects despite our setback. Closer inspection under the bonnet with the recovery driver found a rod hanging out of the side of the block.....
The new Sprinters, despite being all nice and shiny, are quite a bit different, and bigger - they have a much bigger 'box' on the back. When parked or going slowly, they are a much nicer environment to treat a patient in - better access to stuff, a nicer layout, brighter with better lighting and ventilation, more space, better stretcher and tail lift etc. However, once they are moving fast, to me they are way underdamped. They bounce about and pitch from side to side quite badly - which makes delicate work a bit more difficult, and writing near on impossible. No big deal tho, we just generally wait until we get to the other end to do the paperwork. On the other hand, they are a fair bit better on acceleration, and faster top end. Impressive for a 6-tonne plus barn door.
The cars - we just got rid of our Volvos as I joined, which seemed to be really good. The TD Fords are, however, also pretty efficient. They seem to still pick up and go amazingly, despite all the gear and two people inside - and yeah, of course they tend to understeer, but not too detrimentally. You can make some impressive progress in them if needed. So far, after a couple of years of very hard 24/7 use, they seem to be holding up very well. Also, a nice place to spend 12, 13, 14 hours inside - plenty of space, storage, good heating / AC / ventilation, comfortable, and with seats which recline to a very agreeable angle on the occasional night-time standby
Helimed 56 Eurocopter EC135.....um dunno, not been in that yet
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Cheers again.
I get cars and ambo's with flashing blue lights by about mid-September. When we start, we are put on a four-week blue-light response driving course, which is 9 to 5, 5 days a week. That's a hell of a lot of driving training, but it's done with ex Police pursuit instructors, so they must deem it necessary that we have so much training. I guess it's a pretty important part of the process, and must be done right, to encompass all different people and driving abilities. Remember that some of the graduates are in their early 20's with very little driving experience, especially fast driving and vehicle dynamics. I'm not sure how I will get on as an ex-racer and track-day instructor but I will go in with an open mind - every day is a school day, and I am sure I will learn a lot.
May we be allowed to come and view Mr Plod filling his pants, please?I get cars and ambo's with flashing blue lights by about mid-September. When we start, we are put on a four-week blue-light response driving course, which is 9 to 5, 5 days a week. That's a hell of a lot of driving training, but it's done with ex Police pursuit instructors, so they must deem it necessary that we have so much training. I guess it's a pretty important part of the process, and must be done right, to encompass all different people and driving abilities. Remember that some of the graduates are in their early 20's with very little driving experience, especially fast driving and vehicle dynamics. I'm not sure how I will get on as an ex-racer and track-day instructor
but I will go in with an open mind - every day is a school day, and I am sure I will learn a lot.pm'd you a pic of my cock. Can you tell me if those green oozing bits are something I should worry about, or will that clear up on its own?
But seriously, well done on doing this job. I have a huge amount of respect for these type of jobs that are absolutely essential emergency response things that are public facing (nurses, cops etc too). They're doing a job I couldn't, for a pay packet that I don't think is fair.
And to echo the other comments, hopefully we won't meet
But seriously, well done on doing this job. I have a huge amount of respect for these type of jobs that are absolutely essential emergency response things that are public facing (nurses, cops etc too). They're doing a job I couldn't, for a pay packet that I don't think is fair.
And to echo the other comments, hopefully we won't meet
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