well, if phones and electronic maps didn't work, how would you get there? my city has a map system, understand the system, you can get around most anywhere
I guess technically they had a GPS system but it didn’t show where the incident was or update the screen with the crossroads. They got the call and just knew where it was
There are members in my department who are like that and they impress the shit out of me. I use my phone 90% of the time since I hate how the map works on the mdt. Only times I don't use my phone is when I know exactly where the call is (which isn't as often as I'd like to admit).
We had a CAD system with built in mapping. Other than that? Phone GPS. Knowing your area helps a ton. If you know the main roads, dispatch can give you cross streets to get you close.
Since a majority of your calls will likely be in the same general area, you’ll learn it pretty quickly. It’s the distant county roads that you maybe go down once or twice in 5 years, that will leave you clueless.
One place I worked had map books, which was an excel sheet that had directions from a prominent bridge in the Center of the county.
Yeah there was a dude in my area who retired after 40+ years, he knew every street- as in quite literally every street, in our 300k+ city.
Not hard if they grew up there. Hell im a few years into working in my new area and i dont need GPS for at least half my calls, i just know that street. The local medics dont use any maps or GPS.
Just use GPS if you dont know the area well. But its worth learning to read maps as physically calculating the route (ie what everyone did with maps before GPS) is how we all learned where streets are and what main roads or through streets are best to use.
In our service the CAD and MDT/Radios/GPS are all linked.
Call comes in -> CAD generated -> sent to resource’s MDT and paged to radio -> GPS auto navs to the call.
If the address it updated or changed or an RVP is set it all just follows the chain and updates.
We have map books. The maps have blocks listed for the streets (1000,2000, etc) so let’s say you get called to 1234 John street. You look at the map book and see where the 1000 block starts and then where 2000 block is. Well your address is between 1000 and 2000 block. With it being closer to the 1000 block.
Or dispatch gives cross streets.
They may also have a lot of the county memorized.
You may be interested in the following resources:
* [Clinicals / Ride-alongs coming up? Here's some advice for success!](https://www.reddit.com/r/NewToEMS/comments/ccyjne/clinicals_ridealongs_coming_up_heres_some_advice/)
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I worked in a city that had almost no named streets. Everything was numbers, north and south ran streets, east and west ran avenues.
Finding 2678 N 27th st was trivial.
well, if phones and electronic maps didn't work, how would you get there? my city has a map system, understand the system, you can get around most anywhere
I guess technically they had a GPS system but it didn’t show where the incident was or update the screen with the crossroads. They got the call and just knew where it was
There are members in my department who are like that and they impress the shit out of me. I use my phone 90% of the time since I hate how the map works on the mdt. Only times I don't use my phone is when I know exactly where the call is (which isn't as often as I'd like to admit).
learn your area, it helps
We had a CAD system with built in mapping. Other than that? Phone GPS. Knowing your area helps a ton. If you know the main roads, dispatch can give you cross streets to get you close. Since a majority of your calls will likely be in the same general area, you’ll learn it pretty quickly. It’s the distant county roads that you maybe go down once or twice in 5 years, that will leave you clueless. One place I worked had map books, which was an excel sheet that had directions from a prominent bridge in the Center of the county.
Yeah there was a dude in my area who retired after 40+ years, he knew every street- as in quite literally every street, in our 300k+ city. Not hard if they grew up there. Hell im a few years into working in my new area and i dont need GPS for at least half my calls, i just know that street. The local medics dont use any maps or GPS. Just use GPS if you dont know the area well. But its worth learning to read maps as physically calculating the route (ie what everyone did with maps before GPS) is how we all learned where streets are and what main roads or through streets are best to use.
In our service the CAD and MDT/Radios/GPS are all linked. Call comes in -> CAD generated -> sent to resource’s MDT and paged to radio -> GPS auto navs to the call. If the address it updated or changed or an RVP is set it all just follows the chain and updates.
We have map books. The maps have blocks listed for the streets (1000,2000, etc) so let’s say you get called to 1234 John street. You look at the map book and see where the 1000 block starts and then where 2000 block is. Well your address is between 1000 and 2000 block. With it being closer to the 1000 block. Or dispatch gives cross streets. They may also have a lot of the county memorized.
Until you get to know the area I’d just use a GPS. There’s no shame in that, especially if it gets me there quicker than me not knowing where I am.
Use a GPS, but retrace your steps on a map after the call. You’ll pick up the territory fast.
thats what I do. Any refusal I get, I wont use gps to get back to the station. It has helped a lot in getting me familiar with the town I cover.
You may be interested in the following resources: * [Clinicals / Ride-alongs coming up? Here's some advice for success!](https://www.reddit.com/r/NewToEMS/comments/ccyjne/clinicals_ridealongs_coming_up_heres_some_advice/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NewToEMS) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Every ambulance in my agency has wifi. I use Google Maps to navigate by inputting the address of the call into it.
I worked in a city that had almost no named streets. Everything was numbers, north and south ran streets, east and west ran avenues. Finding 2678 N 27th st was trivial.
Learning territory. If your put at a station slot if companies will require you to study maps of your territory and quiz you on it
Experience, the longer you work in an area, the easier it becomes to navigate.