In 1997 I was in Boston for a neurology meeting.
One morning I was walking from my hotel to the meeting, and stopped at a Starbucks on the way. After getting my order I sat down by the window to glance through a newspaper.
Suddenly an ambulance, sirens and lights on, came flying down the street outside at warp speed.
It screeeeeched to a stop in the middle of the street. 2 guys got out of the front, walked into the Starbucks, and waited patiently in line. They left the ambulance running in the middle of the street (blocking traffic) with the sirens and lights on.
When they got up to the counter, one used his radio and called the guy in the back with the patient to see what he wanted them to get him.
They got their order, walked back out, squealed the tires, and drove away at warp speed.
I was the only one there who seemed at all surprised.
That is sad... :(
ReplyDelete-Francine
It was a house call...at the coffeehouse!
ReplyDeleteI don't see the problem. Did they forget the cream?
ReplyDeleteYou sure? A 3 person ambulance crew is almost unheard of, especially in a big city. Even if they had three, I doubt that only one would be in the back with a patient-maybe they had a new guy on a ride along, but no patient on board. Doing something like that with lights/siren on would get me fired in a heartbeat.
ReplyDeleteare you kidding me? Wow.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I smell a lawsuit.
ReplyDeleteI remember driving on the masspike once (I-90) and having a state trooper coming flying up the highway with his lights and sirens blaring while probably doing 90-100 miles an hour. I saw him about 10 minutes later at one of the rest stops on the hood of his car eating a pizza. I guess the pizza was done and he didn't feel like waiting and doing the same speed as most of the highway (65-75mph).
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Boston.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he was asking the patient what he or she wanted?
ReplyDeletemight have been a transport crew and not an emergency run, but still not an appropriate use of resources....but, that's Boston drivers!
ReplyDeletenow, true Bostonians would have done this at DunkinDonuts, not Starbucks.
Must have been a New York crew visiting. Clairesmum nailed it. My Bahstun EMS buddies wouldn't touch 'Bux. Dunkins only- none of that fancy expensive nonsense.
ReplyDeleteDid they get any coffee for the patient? Maybe they were out of epinephrine and searched for some sort of stimulant...
ReplyDeleteSo funny!
ReplyDeleteWhen Macca's used to close at 10:30pm, it was a common occurrence to see cops or ambos screaming up the main drag with lights and sirens, only to turn into the drive-thru.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that even emergencies are put on temporary hold for coffee break!
ReplyDeleteMore believable if it had been old England rather than New England.
as a paramedic, that was a fantastic story. and a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI call this the "freeze asshole" mentality. Idiots in uniform that are so burdened with their own feelings of inadequacy and self conscious about their loser little lives that they have to abuse the power that they think they have, to feel like big shots (uh I mean shits)-----Look at me!! Look at me!! I'm soooo important. Jerk-offs
ReplyDeleteI have to ask, was it the Starbucks on Longwood Avenue?
ReplyDeleteNo idea any more.
ReplyDeleteRushing to a case of acute caffeine withdrawal. Isn't that obvious?
ReplyDelete3-person crews definitely still exist, mainly in volunteer houses. This is fantastic and I shared the idea with everyone in the ED. Love it.
ReplyDelete