IHCD Blue Light Driver Training Days 1-3

Even bus drivers have lessons

Day 1

The first half of the day consisted of PowerPoint lectures teaching us about the Law and the Ambulance Driver; what makes a good driver; risk taking; positive attitudes; weather conditions; and the system of control. We were also taught how to carry out a full set of vehicle daily inspections (VDI) for an ambulance.

During the second half of the day we took the vehicles out for a couple of hours as an opportunity for the tutors to assess our driving abilities. There were no real dramas involved so we had a quick debrief and that was the end of day 1 IHCD Blue Light Driver Training.

Day 2

Started off with a short PowerPoint presentation on the system of car control which are:

• Stage 1 Information
• Stage 2 Position
• Stage 3 Speed
• Stage 4 Gear
• Stage 5 Acceleration

Then after a quick tea break we carried out the VDIs for our respective ambulances making sure that they were road worthy and prepared to set off. Our tutor taught us how to carry out the Pre Driving Checks (PDC) and to position the seat correctly. For the remainder of the day we drove around the county looking for obstacles and hazards to utilise the system of car control. I believe the system does make a huge difference to the quality of the drive and that a patient will benefit from a smoother more controlled driving style. That said, even though you try to be courteous and anticipate bad drivers on the road it can sometimes be in vain. Some drivers are absolute lunatics and don’t think twice about cutting up ambulances. After a few hours driving we headed back to the training school for our debriefs. A few useful lessons were learned that day.

Day 3

Today started with a PowerPoint lecture on acceleration sense. When to accelerate; effective use depends on; and poor acceleration results in, were the topics discussed. Some of the examples ring home very true. How many times have I accelerated from a set of green lights only to find myself braking a few seconds later at the next set of lights? How many often do you see a boy racer accelerate up the back end of a lorry only to brake heavily as they realise they can’t overtake? Both these examples show how poor acceleration sense can contribute to a waste of fuel and also be dangerous to over road users. Another lesson learned. That’s at least 3 and it’s only day 3 of driver training.

For the remainder of the day we drove around the area for a couple of hundred miles, putting into practise the system of car control and acceleration sense. To achieve this the tutor asked us to give a running commentary of the hazards and what we intended to do to avoid them. Trying to give a commentary and drive was initially a difficult task to complete, after a few hours it became a little more natural and was conducive to driving. To practise acceleration sense we were tasked with braking as little as possible while maintaining an appropriate road speed. Not that easy in a 4.5 ton Merc when descending huge hills.

Today was an enjoyable day and some valid lessons were learned. I look forward to the next couple of days and improving upon the skills learnt.