You may be saving lives but don't block my drive…

10.4 Parking within areas controlled by double white or yellow lines
10.4.1 Trust vehicles are permitted to park within the controlled area and on the crossing
subject to the vehicle not remaining longer than is necessary, and/or it could not
be parked effectively elsewhere. This exemption is to allow ambulance personnel
to deal with the incident when no alternative parking is available. Drivers are
reminded that there is no exemption for dangerous parking.
10.5 Parking on a footway, verge or central reservation (non fast roads)
10.5.1 Drivers should not park on footpaths unless directed to do so. Where parking
needs to occur, care should be given to ensure pedestrians and wheelchair
users can pass. Care should be taken when moving onto soft ground so as to
not to get the vehicle stuck or to cause damage to it.

The above is guidance given to london ambulance drivers. It seems to be very much common sense, but also that they should give some consideration about how and where they park.

The above is guidance given to london ambulance drivers.

No such thing.

No such thing.

Well it comes from a document headed

London ambulalance service NHS
nhs trust

So I imagine it’s directed at ambulance drivers who drive ambulances in London.
Is there some point to your post ?

Yes, there is no such thing as an ambulance driver.

There are Paramedic, Advanced Technicians, Technicians and Emergency Care Asssitant they all can drive an ambulance but none of them are ambulance drivers. It’s very insulting towards staff to call them a driver, would you call a nurse a Dr helper?

Oh I get it ambulance drivers have to be called Paramedics or EMTs 😀

I’ll leave you and this thread with a quote from an ambulance driver 😉

“The assumption by many paramedics and EMTs is that being called an ambulance driver demeans the skill and training that we have. Perhaps my paramedic skills take a back seat when I’m referred to as a driver, but I can’t deny that aspect of my job.”

Edit: I see you’ve added a bit more info to your original post. But I’d be hugely suprised if any but a small minority if paramedics are so precious that their offended by the general public sometimes reffering to them as ambulance drivers.

An ambulance has a driver. Therefore there is such a thing as an ambulance driver, in the same way that there is such a thing as a car driver.

There might not be a job title of Ambulance Driver, but that doesn’t mean there is no such thing as a driver of an ambulance.

Molgrips +1

So does everyone posting think there are no circumstances whatsoever in which it might be unreasonable for the ambulance to block someone’s drive?

(Other than this specific incident).

Not that I can think of to be honest.

Hang on, if the house was on fire and on the verge of going boom and the drive was the only viable escape route.

Oh I get it ambulance drivers have to be called Paramedics or EMTs

They should have one qualified person per vehicle and a big bloke who’s good at lifting and driving who is paid minimum wage. That’d save a fortune 😉

Drac – Am I helping or hindering in my post above?

What about the bloke* who drives the ‘ambulances’ that ferry old folks with no other means to and from hospital? My brother in law used to do that, and although he tells people he was a Paramedic, I suspect anyone who needed anything more than a Strepsil or a Bob the Builder plaster would have been bang out of luck.

*rapid edit – or lady obviously, I don’t want my facile post to be branded casually sexist. 😀

I once got rage beeped at by a car behind mine for allowing a hearse and two or three following cars across a roundabout, granted it was my right of way but some people simply don’t care about anything apart from themselves.

And as drivers go I would suggest ambulance drivers may be better skilled at driving than your average driver.
The blue light drivers atleast.

In a future where ambulances drive themselves will they put people out of jobs or will there be two paramedics in the back.

What about the bloke* who drives the ‘ambulances’ that ferry old folks

round here ambulance care assistants / patient transport services drivers IIRC

What about the bloke* who drives the ‘ambulances’ that ferry old folks with no other means to and from hospital?

Talking to ambulance dri…. sorry paramedics, it seems most start in the service doing such work and obviously receive an amount of first aid training. They have an option, if they choose to move on to full paramedic training. Some metioned that quite a few never do, the relatively small increase in pay doesn’t make up for the huge increase in responsibility and stress.

Just watched the Runcorn bloke having a go at the paramedic. What a weapons grade spunk trumpet. Luckily a few people have posted his name and address on the Cheshire Police facebook feed so hopefully a he’ll be getting such feedback directly.

Some procedures are much easier with two people but I did spend 7 years working on the rapid response car by myself and it’s surprising what you can get done when control tell you there’s no additional help to send.
Re. the post above about one qualified member of staff and a minimum wage gopher…already happens, when I started 17 years ago two paramedics on a vehicle was normal but now it tends to be one paramedic and one ECSW (emergency care support worker) or whatever variation a particular trust are using…think of them as the care assistants in a hospital and you’re on the right track, that’s not to say they aren’t helpful (as I said earlier, two pairs of hand are often required) but their training is basic and I personally think it’s a step backwards.

About the guys and girls ferrying oldies to and from outpatients appointments…they tend to be called Ambulance Care Assistants and work on the patient transport service (PTS) branch of the service…pretty much first aid and automatic defib training only, no blue light training either.

Hope that helps, regarding what to do if an ambulance comes up behind, just pull over to the left…simple, if you can’t (say parked traffic on either side and only room for one vehicle down the road) drive at the pace you were, don’t slow down, get past the parked cars and then pull over…again simple, why this isn’t taught in the driving test I don’t know…i even had a driver pull across me to the right while I was overtaking on the right, needless to say we collided and the bloke admitted he had no idea what to do and was trying to get into someone’s driveway!…i admired his intention but the consequences were an RTC and having to stand down on the emergency…for once the service backed me instead of just paying out and pursued it for a 50/50 (anyone in the ambulance service knows how rare this is, usually blame on us is a given!)…weirdest evasive action I’ve come across yet.
Thankfully off road now and in control (the dark side!).

An ambulance has a driver. Therefore there is such a thing as an ambulance driver, in the same way that there is such a thing as a car driver.

That’s really pushing it to the extreme, you could belittle any job by looking at the most basic of skill and calling them that.

What about the bloke* who drives the ‘ambulances’ that ferry old folks with no other means to and from hospital?

Ambulance Care Assitants.

Talking to ambulance dri…. sorry paramedics, it seems most start in the service doing such work and obviously receive an amount of first aid training. ….Some metioned that quite a few never do, the relatively small increase in pay doesn’t make up for the huge increase in responsibility and stress.

At one time many moons ago maybe but far from it now and the pay difference is significant.

Drac – Am I helping or hindering in my post above?

Probably a bit of both crews probably laugh at you to ne honest.