This morning I was walking down College Ave to catch the T in Davis, and an ambulance goes screaming by, sirens blaring. Next thing I know it sort of pulls over. Sits for a few seconds. I see the driver take a swig of coffee, and then the copilot jumps out and runs backwards up the street where some dude is standing. Talks to him a little while – meanwhile the driver’s coffee may have told him where they are because he gets on the loudspeaker (I didn’t know they had that sort of capability) and says “John, John <whistles to get his attention> lets go” – so “John” runs back and they fire up the siren and continue on their merry way.
I bet a an accountant and a lawyer got together and decided equipping the fleet with navigation devices would cost more than the expected value of any lawsuits from them getting lost and killing people by being too late.
If anyone is looking for an ambulance to get lost in, it looks like there’s a roaring trade in used ambulances.
Speaking of buying used ambulances…I admittedly don’t watch PBS very often, but twice I’ve happened to catch the pilot of Second Hand Stories where these two guys buy a used ambulance and then set off across the country with a small amount of money. The premise is that they stop at garage sales and second-hand stores along the way and find good deals. Whatever they buy they resell out of the back of the ambulance and the proceeds from this finance the continuance of their trip. The problem is that the old ambulance proves very unreliable and their trip is cut short due to unanticipated vehicle maintenance fees. So when it comes to used ambulances, caveat emptor!