Here is a quick quiz. What gets my blood boiling more than anything else?
A. Getting home after going through the drive-through of a fast-food restaurant and finding out they screwed up my order.
B. Just getting to sleep and the phone rings with a wrong number.
C. Getting into my wife's car and finding out (as usual) the gas tank is on empty.
D. Somebody uses the term "ambulance driver."
If you picked D, pat yourself on the back. Even though I have not worked on an ambulance for almost 23 years, whenever somebody uses the term "ambulance driver" or I see it printed somewhere, my blood pressure starts rising. Unfortunately, I showed my ugly side one time during a seminar when an economist was explaining cost allocation models for delivering EMS in the fire service and he used the word "ambulance driver." I interrupted him and asked him whether he commonly called firefighters "fire truck drivers" or referred to police officers as "police car drivers."
Why does it drive me crazy? Because I think people who work on ambulances are professionals. Usually, they are required to be licensed to practice medicine and daily are responsible for holding the lives of other people in their hands. They do not have the luxury of doing procedures in a well-lit and well-staffed emergency room and many times must do those procedures under the most adverse conditions. The term "ambulance driver" does not dignify their professional position.
I will concede that at one time, individuals who drove ambulances were referred to as "ambulance drivers." One of the most famous "ambulance drivers" was the writer Ernest Hemingway, who drove ambulances on the Austro-Italian battlefront in the summer of 1918. The term "ambulance driver" also commonly referred to those who drove military ambulances in World War II and the Korean War. The term was not only limited to the military, but anybody who drove an ambulance was referred to as an "ambulance driver."
Why were they called "ambulance drivers"? Simply put, all they did was drive the ambulance with the patient in the rear to a hospital. Little or no care was administered and usually there was no attendant in the rear to provide any assistance. They did not have to have any medical training and very few even had Red Cross first aid training.
But all of that changed in the 1960s and 1970s, when EMS systems developed and many state laws were changed to mandate standards for personnel working on an ambulance. At a minimum, there had to be two people assigned to the ambulance and they had to have a minimum of an EMT license. At that time, the EMT course was only 81 hours of training. Now, the new paramedic curriculum involves two years of study. But even with paramedics now spending two years in school to work on an ambulance, I am starting to see the term "ambulance driver" being used more than ever.
I recently saw a front-page article in USA Today on the subject of ambulance accidents. Several times, the author of the piece used the term "ambulance driver." With the recent fierce fighting between the Israelis and the Palestinians, news stories report Palestinian "ambulance drivers" being shot by Israelis. The use of "ambulance driver" in a foreign country is not unusual, and the term is commonly used throughout the Middle East and Europe.
In preparation for this column, I did some research on the Internet and found some shocking usages for the word "ambulance driver." One of the most distressful was on the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) website. On the "Make the Right EMS Call" webpage, one paragraph reads, "Give the exact location of the emergency. Point out any landmarks / nearby intersections, bridges, buildings " that will help the ambulance driver find you." Is there any hope for banning "ambulance driver" when even the USFA refers to a professional in EMS as an "ambulance driver"?
Almost equally inexcusable are various fire department websites that refer to "ambulance drivers." One fire department even created an EMS career ladder with the "ambulance driver" on the bottom rung.
Newspapers continue to perpetuate the term "ambulance driver" with their headlines. My Internet search found such headlines as, "Ambulance driver fired after doughnut stop files suit"; "Widow sues ambulance driver"; "Unlicensed ambulance driver couldn't help"; "Ambulance driver charged with murders"; and "Ambulance driver's action defended."
I even found a software game called "Ambulance Driver." The advertisement reads, "Every second counts as you rush your patients to the hospital in a nick of time. Feel the rush of adrenaline as you speed through city streets, blow red lights and force cars to a screeching halt. Jump behind the wheel, hit the gas and drive like your life depends on it, because your patient's life does."
If you don't like sitting at home, you can go to the mall and play a video arcade game called "Ambulance Driver." In this game, "You must get a patient to the hospital as fast as you can. If you hit any objects during the trip, your patient's conditions will become worse, and if your patient dies, the game ends."
A search on ebay.com found that you could buy a bumper sticker that reads, "Have You Hugged An Ambulance Driver Today?" A search on amazon.com found 29 books with "ambulance driver" in the titles.
With "ambulance driver" still being used so freely, I wonder whether there is any hope for elimination of this term from the English language. I will continue to do my part. I think education is the key. Whenever I see authors use "ambulance driver" in articles, I send them a friendly e-mail or a letter in an attempt to educate them. I encourage you to do the same.
Gary Ludwig, MS, EMT-P, a Firehouse® contributing editor, serves as the director of emergency services for Jefferson County, MO. He retired as chief paramedic from the St. Louis Fire Department after serving the City of St. Louis for 24 years. Ludwig has trained and lectured internationally and nationally on fire and EMS topics. He also operates The Ludwig Group, a professional consulting firm. He can be reached at 636-789-5660 or via www.garyludwig.com.
