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My incident began similarly to the way many others we read on here do. We were on a call for an activated fire alarm when we were dispatched to an ambulance call. I was the driver of the ambulance; my partner, still in his bunker gear, jumped in the rear of the ambulance to dress down. Instead of thoroughly thinking through what I should do, I merely reacted. I decided to perform a simple three-point turn to get out of the parking lot and onto the street. Our department SOG dictates no matter what the situation, we must always use a spotter when backing and in cases where this is impossible the driver must complete a 360° walk-around before attempting a backing maneuver. I now fully understand why. As I’m sure someone could assume, my simple three-point turn, was not so simple. Although I checked my mirrors and the rear back up camera, I did not have a spotter, although one was available, nor did I complete a 360° walk-around before attempting the backing portion of the three-point turn. As a result I hit a concrete pole. Most people may not consider this to be that big of a deal, and in this case it was not. The problem is what could have happened. The possibilities are endless. What if there were a small child standing there I didn’t see? What if I injured my partner? What if the ambulance was out of service because of the accident? What if I delayed the response to the medical emergency? The point I’m trying to make is there is no excuse for not following proper procedures.
LESSONS LEARNED:
These rules have all been enacted over the years, and for a good reason. The simple three-point turn I perform in my car every day, could have been a disaster for my department, me personally and my career. This has definitely taught me one thing; I will always use a spotter when backing a piece of apparatus in the future. And more than that, I will always do my best to follow department policies which I’ve learned the hard way are there for my protection.