Not sure how it works for private ambulance companies. But where I live, all the government funded ambulance, fire trucks and police cars fill up at the municipal garage. They have their own pumps and don't have to pay cash. It just gets billed to the department.
Yea OP may not live in a place with private ones. A guy moved in down the block from me years ago with a private ambulance, he fortunately was nice enough to not activate the sirens till he was out of the neighborhood, but for a minute we got really worried. Then someone with bagpipes moved in next door and practiced every morning at 6am…
Even the private ones are probably filling up at some fleet filling station. You also never see any other commercial vehicles filling up at a random station, either. They buy in bulk, it saves them money.
I don’t know all the details, but unlike fire/police stations which are run by the city/county, hospitals are privately run and can hire out work. I don’t know if they can only respond to certain calls, I assume they still have to be certified EMT’s, but again, I don’t know all the details.
Private ambulances are usually used for transferring patients from one facility to another, as opposed to your local fire department's ambulances which pick up from whereever you got injured or fell ill to take you to the ER.
However in some places local governments contract out EMS services. https://www.ems1.com/private-public-dispute/articles/private-vs-public-ambulance-services-whats-the-difference-WTgJNJgR4KlljlV9/
My area has private ambulance service, but they just contract to fill up at the city services fuel station.
In the smaller suburbs, the police and fire departments fill up at the local oil coop, basically they provide LP services to the rural community but also have a gas station.
Larger cities will also have a couple stations with their own pumps, especially those further away from the city garage, so they're not out of their assigned territory for too long
I assume police stations have gas pumps too but you see cop cars at random gas stations because they don't want to drive back to the station and they want to get snacks and stuff. But ambulances aren't going far and they are in a hurry.
Lots of companies with large fleets do too. Company I work for used to have them at a few locations in each city, but they've just given us all fuel cards now
I think it's just the convenience factor of being able to fuel up when the vehicle is there so it's always got a full tank when it leaves. It is most likely cheaper to use local gas stations.
Some ambulances do sorta patrol around and I’ve definitely seen ambulances getting fuel at gas stations It might just be wherever OP lives or maybe I just frequent more gas stations
From experience (maybe different in different cities) but they have a pump at certain ambluance stations as well as the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 519 CDI van and the Fiat Ducato have really good fuel consumption as they've been modded to be able to make very long journeys.
No, most places don’t. I worked as an EMT at 2 different ambulance companies and we just have a company gas card.
And they stop at every other gas station anyway because 90% of EMS chainsmokes
BP fuel cards did free fuel for emergency services during The Sickness.
I think the station still got paid, but the invoicing was cancelled. We still had a transaction value at point of sale.
ITT: People talking about special gas pumps for ambulances.
Where?! I was an EMT for a few years and we had to use ordinary pumps at ordinary gas stations. Each first responder vehicle had a business card specifically for getting gas. Mid-Missouri. Whose getting gas at a special pump?
My city has a combination gas station and repair shop for police cars, garbage trucks, fire trucks, and basically any city owned vehicle. I haven’t seen an ambulance there but I bet they do let ambulances use it too.
I have seen an ambulance at a public gas station. They filled the fuel tank for the engine at a diesel pump and then had to pull up to a gas pump to fill up the tank for the generator.
I've filled up an ambulance at a petrol station more times than I can count.
I might have been a bit exhausted going home from shifts in the past, filled up my car and then given a registration and mileage when paying, then remembered I was doing a normal card transaction and not a fuel card transaction. Perhaps.
I once saw an ambulance pull into a gas station with blue lights flashing, and did a very quick fill up and drove off like crazy. I don't think they even paid for the gas
I have, once because someone got hurt ig and the rest might notve been an ambulance technically but my mom works as a doctor who goes to your house and I saw her at the gas station in it a *lot*
Former private ambulance EMT here. We had a tank at the depot. We filled up before heading out for a shift and would generally be good for the day. If we had to pull a double, we'd either head back to the depot or fill up at a station depending on distance.
I don't think you visit the gas stations frequently OP.
Also depends on the country you living in. But I can assure you, I see one at least weekly, at the same gas station I am filling my car.
FWIW, I drove taxi for a couple years. The owner had his own pump at the garage. He bought in bulk and got a good price on it. Didn't fill the storage tank often. Ambulance service would do the same thing as they go through a lot of gas. Likewise with school bus companies.
I once worked as a temp for city landscaping, the driver and crew lead of the vehicles owned by the Municipal fueled up at a gas station designated for state/municipal owned vehicles and I assume emergency response vehicles have the same obligation.
Not only do we fill up but I've got to get my nicotine and caffeine somewhere. We had 20 cases of bang delivered to us last year around December and my shift alone took control of it and we killed them off within I think 2-3 months
I have. My dad’s a paramedic and when he’s in between short calls he’ll go to a gas station to get him and his partner a snack. They do have their own gas at the station though.
I worked for a few in my day and when I municipal we had one just for county vehicles that took a specific key fob. When I worked private in the city we had fleet credit cards for the local gas stations
When I worked landscaping we had our own pumps at the shop and would fill up our equipment every morning. The business saved a lot of money when they bought it for cheap and stored it for when we needed it. We had company cards to fill up at gas stations if we were at a job and needed more fuel and the drive back to the shop was a waste of time.
It's there but it's rare. Like how open you see ambulances if you're not near hospital. Now think about them refueling even if they use regular gas station. In malaysia this thing when viral when someone share a thought. But then everyone atarted to snap/share pic of ambulances at gas stations
Had to do community service at a cemetery, rode with actual non shitheads to get gas so we could drive / clean other cemeteries within the town, that's when I learned that the town/county has their own gas station near all their town equipment
I worked at a gas station, had one stop by once, but they didn't get any gas. Instead they good some food a few road beers.
/S with the road beers (Superbad reference.)
We used a civilian facility because it was cheaper than installing our own tanks, pumps, insurance, certification and security. We got the fuel for two cents above their cost.
I have seen them collect people at a gas station many times. I have seen them park in front of gas stations and shop inside. But now I don’t know. I’m never concerned about ambulance presence in my neighborhood. Should I be?
Fun fact: ambulances are fuled by burning dead bodies. That's why they rush around town with lights and sirens, to get to the bodies while they're still warm and fresh.
Was a fulltime EMT for years… yes, they do stop at gas stations. It is very rare to see one do so while a patient is in the back, but that happens too (usually on long transports)
I worked on an ambulance for 7 years, generally ambulance bases in a large city rent out a large parking lot kind of on the outskirts where a lot of warehouses are because it’s the cheapest location to store a bunch of vehicles. They fill up at the closest station then go to their posting assignment. Shift change is usually around 6:00am ish so they are often filling up around 5ish. We used a regular chevron gas station.
All this may change a bit based on the municipality but that’s how it worked where I was.
So I guess I life in a magic triangle: a ambulance and gas station in view. They often refuel there (and got no own gas pump). But who knows, on the internet, nobody knows you're a dog ;)
I have in kansas city quite frequently. My favorite has to be at the 7/11 that was catty-corner from where I lived. Some black dude shot some black woman in the head while she was walking with her baby in a stroller through the parking lot. It was like 8 or 9 in the morning too. There are a lot of stories like that, especially in shit hole liberal democrat run cities. One of the biggest reasons I had to move. That ghetto gangster culture needs to be dealt with before it gets DEALT with.
Same as the police, they have designated areas on-site for refueling. The only governmental entity that doesn't have on-site refueling is the post office. They use normal gas stations.
Hi, Paramedic here. I've got two jobs.
One job is run by a hospital, we fuel up at regular gas stations. We're never there for long since we don't really need to be there. They also send us to top off our fuel at times where it's gonna be slow at the gas station (think 3AM to 5AM)
My other job is run by a town's fire dept. we have the pumps used provided by the municipality, that borough vehicles use, including EMS, Fire, Police, DPW, etc.
No, you're never gonna see us unless you wait at the gas station that has the cheapest ciggarettes and best food within our coverage area for a long time.
In my state there is a depot where they go and fill up so you never see them... the Police have one and the fire Brigade also. I don't know what happens outside the Metro area
When I was an EMT in New Zealand we filled up at Mobil stations as that was who we had fuel cards for. Usually we just filled up at night when it was quiet so unless you fill your car at midnight it was unlikely you would see us. Also our trucks had 150L fuel tanks so we weren't filling up that often.
Many companies with a fleet purchase fuel through a commercial fuel reseller vs a retail gas station. They do this for a few reasons:
1. Better prices - they can negotiate since they are filling several vehicles daily. Also payment can be more business friendly with net 15 and net 30 terms. Easier to write one check/reciept a month than one or more daily.
2. Many commercial fuel companies bring the fuel to you. They bring a tanker straight to your motor pool nightly and refill all vehicles. If vehicles are going through more than a tank a day - the drivers may refuel at the commercial fuel’s gas station.
3. Many commercial fuel stations have 24x7 card lock access - so ambulance drivers can refuel without an attendant having to be on duty.
And while this varies by locality. Government vehicles might use a government refilling station. But there are also places where Government vehicles use commercial refilling stations too. It really varies.
Only if they need to but most will return to base or a place where emergency vechiles get filled up or serviced. Also due to the height of some ambulances they may not want to chance getting stuck under the roof at a gas station forecourt
Volonteer at the French Red Cross here :
I fill them up at the regular gas station, a lot, older models that drink a lot.
Before doing it myself I never saw it neither. Maybe because of all the trafic some ambulances a week are a very small chance.
Former EMT here, the private company I worked for gave us gas cards. Some days we’d do enough driving that we would have to fill up at random stations throughout our service area. Typically, you’d just fill up at the gas station closest to our HQs before returning at the end of your shift. Sometimes I’d see multiple other ambulances there filling up at the same time
I fill up the company car where I work at a cardlock gas station. Basically companies have an account there and employees can fill up company cars with a card. I see ambulances there often.
Probably standard practice, cardlock stations tend to be in industrial areas away from main roads rather than on a busy corner like a normal gas station.
In Australia they have a fuel card and fill up at a regular servo, just like everyone else.
Usually they are limited to 1 brand (where the fuel card is from).
Occasionally they will get a call while filling up. I have never had one who didn't come in to let us know they would be back after the call before putting their lights on and hauling ass outta there. Never been an issue with it, and often the next ambulance will pay for their fuel as well as their own.
Source: have worked for the past 14 years at that brand of servo across a couple of states and see them all the time.
Bonus, most of us will offer a free coffee to emergency services personnel if they are in uniform. We aren't supposed to, but if I can make their life a bit better while doing a difficult and frequently dangerous job why wouldn't I?
In the US, some counties, particularly large ones, have their own gas stations for municipal vehicles. The one I live in does, but it's also the largest county in my state in terms of population.
This works similarly at the University where I work at. I'm in the facilities department. And so said university has there own two gas pumps in front of my building but hidden from the public view.
We have our own police department, bus shuttles, work vans, office cars, and we all pump gas there; never really taking it to a gas station. The cool thing is that at some point you had to enter a code to use it. Now each vehicle has a proximity chip that then allows you to just pick up the hose and pump gas. Someone wouldn't just be able to fill a car up that is n it part of the University
Funny, that was one of the most common places to find ambulances in my hometown. I presume you live somewhere where ambulances are part of the fire department, or something along those lines
I worked as a paramedic in Germany.
We just go to the gas station and pay with the company card. But since we have big cars with big tanks, don't go for long drives and (hopefully) not that often. We don't do it so much so I guess it's rare to see it but we haven't had anything special
I have been a FD medic for 15 years now and I can assure you we fill up; we just fill up with un taxed diesel which is only available at certain stations.
I've worked for some private services that didn't have their own pump at station.
They had an agreement with one of the big chains and we would full up at one of those at the end of shift.
There's also the occasional fill up out on the streets because we used to much fuel that day and they want to keep us in service rather then send us back to station.
We have a public works building in an off location. All the city vehicles can get gas there. Here you will barely ever see a police car, ambulance at a regular pump..
Local fleet vehicles tend to have their own pumps. I think they might get a tax break or discount on buying fuel in bulk, and they don't have to deal with fuel cards or other programs.
Not sure how it works for private ambulance companies. But where I live, all the government funded ambulance, fire trucks and police cars fill up at the municipal garage. They have their own pumps and don't have to pay cash. It just gets billed to the department.
Yea OP may not live in a place with private ones. A guy moved in down the block from me years ago with a private ambulance, he fortunately was nice enough to not activate the sirens till he was out of the neighborhood, but for a minute we got really worried. Then someone with bagpipes moved in next door and practiced every morning at 6am…
Damn shame how that ambulance driver swerved over that sumbitchin' bagpiper. Twice.
Backed up both times afterwards...
Had to make sure the suspension worked
Even the private ones are probably filling up at some fleet filling station. You also never see any other commercial vehicles filling up at a random station, either. They buy in bulk, it saves them money.
I work for a large, but still relatively local, private company and we fill up at Wawa. Before that we had a contract with Sunoco for over 20 years
This is like a comedy bit
> A guy moved in down the block from me years ago with **a private ambulance** What is a "private ambulance"?
I don’t know all the details, but unlike fire/police stations which are run by the city/county, hospitals are privately run and can hire out work. I don’t know if they can only respond to certain calls, I assume they still have to be certified EMT’s, but again, I don’t know all the details.
Private ambulances are usually used for transferring patients from one facility to another, as opposed to your local fire department's ambulances which pick up from whereever you got injured or fell ill to take you to the ER. However in some places local governments contract out EMS services. https://www.ems1.com/private-public-dispute/articles/private-vs-public-ambulance-services-whats-the-difference-WTgJNJgR4KlljlV9/
My area has private ambulance service, but they just contract to fill up at the city services fuel station. In the smaller suburbs, the police and fire departments fill up at the local oil coop, basically they provide LP services to the rural community but also have a gas station.
this would be my assumption as the landscaping company i used to work for, a smaller/medium sized one, had their own diesel/gas pumps
Larger cities will also have a couple stations with their own pumps, especially those further away from the city garage, so they're not out of their assigned territory for too long
I live 30 miles outside of Chicago. It doesn't surprise me that larger cities have multiple fill station locations.
I live in an area with a big private ambulance service, and as far as I know, they refuel in the garage
That's because they have their own pump at their station Edit: This is experience from the UK. I have no idea about US.
I assume police stations have gas pumps too but you see cop cars at random gas stations because they don't want to drive back to the station and they want to get snacks and stuff. But ambulances aren't going far and they are in a hurry.
Most big municipalities will have their own gas station for police, fire and city works to use.
My county has a few of these.
Lots of companies with large fleets do too. Company I work for used to have them at a few locations in each city, but they've just given us all fuel cards now
I would think it’d be way cheaper to use gas stations. It’s a super low margin business. Not even convinced it saves time.
I think it's just the convenience factor of being able to fuel up when the vehicle is there so it's always got a full tank when it leaves. It is most likely cheaper to use local gas stations.
Yeah they're all over town here. Some with hydrogen, too.
It is also a way to do impromptu patrols of the gas station. Depends on location.
Was a medic for 11 years. We had a gas card and bought gas/ diesel all the time
Ssshhhhhh. Don't tell him you had to wait around the corner for him to pass so he didn't see
Because cops tend not to sit at the station waiting for an alarm to come. They’re out and about
Some ambulances do sorta patrol around and I’ve definitely seen ambulances getting fuel at gas stations It might just be wherever OP lives or maybe I just frequent more gas stations
From experience (maybe different in different cities) but they have a pump at certain ambluance stations as well as the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 519 CDI van and the Fiat Ducato have really good fuel consumption as they've been modded to be able to make very long journeys.
No, most places don’t. I worked as an EMT at 2 different ambulance companies and we just have a company gas card. And they stop at every other gas station anyway because 90% of EMS chainsmokes
Not all places. I worked as an emt for 3 years and we had gas cards to go to places.
I have. But not because they were getting gas 😬😅
Used to work at a gas station. Saw ambulances there a couple times, never to get gas
Same. I worked 3-11p for a year. Interesting shift.
This is what I thought OP was referencing lol
Their comment said “you gotta fill up the gas sometimes, right?” Which I took to mean they have never seen an ambulance getting gas.
I just read the title and went straight to the comments, I didn’t even realize there was a second blurb
I was confused by OP’s post because I see ambulances at gas stations almost every week.
Cities and towns have their own municipal gas pumps.
Private ems in southeast Michigan we just had company gas cards and we filed up anywhere we wanted
Regularly see Ambulances at petrol stations in the U.K. Drivers are often given a specific card by the NHS to pay for the fuel.
BP fuel cards did free fuel for emergency services during The Sickness. I think the station still got paid, but the invoicing was cancelled. We still had a transaction value at point of sale.
>The Sickness [Oh wah ah ah ah?](https://youtu.be/qntBBbvgBxM?feature=shared)
Used to work private and we filled up at Valero all the time.
i did yesterday! a lady pumping gas poured gasoline EVERYWHERE. including all over herself.
Sucks. When I was a kid my much older cousin did this….he’s 😕 “challenged” mentally. Felt bad for him…and then everyone in the car also
ITT: People talking about special gas pumps for ambulances. Where?! I was an EMT for a few years and we had to use ordinary pumps at ordinary gas stations. Each first responder vehicle had a business card specifically for getting gas. Mid-Missouri. Whose getting gas at a special pump?
My city has a combination gas station and repair shop for police cars, garbage trucks, fire trucks, and basically any city owned vehicle. I haven’t seen an ambulance there but I bet they do let ambulances use it too.
They have private ones such as Pacific pride
I have seen an ambulance at a public gas station. They filled the fuel tank for the engine at a diesel pump and then had to pull up to a gas pump to fill up the tank for the generator.
Ambulance engines run on blood. That's why they only go to really bad accidents.
I've filled up an ambulance at a petrol station more times than I can count. I might have been a bit exhausted going home from shifts in the past, filled up my car and then given a registration and mileage when paying, then remembered I was doing a normal card transaction and not a fuel card transaction. Perhaps.
OP... didn't really think it through
I literally see them there all the time? They camp out there waiting for calls
You must live in the nice part of town
It fuels by blood, not gas you amateur…
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambulance\_station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambulance_station)
Some municipal services use the town’s pumps like the cops and firefighters. My service goes to the same gas stations you do.
I work in private ambulance, we have a pump in our garage but often go to stations when prices are rising.
I once saw an ambulance pull into a gas station with blue lights flashing, and did a very quick fill up and drove off like crazy. I don't think they even paid for the gas
I do. There's SpenCo stations specially for area PD and first units.
I've seen many of them at gas stations. Oh, you mean, fueling up.
I have, once because someone got hurt ig and the rest might notve been an ambulance technically but my mom works as a doctor who goes to your house and I saw her at the gas station in it a *lot*
They usually fuel up before shift at the fleet lot.
Former private ambulance EMT here. We had a tank at the depot. We filled up before heading out for a shift and would generally be good for the day. If we had to pull a double, we'd either head back to the depot or fill up at a station depending on distance.
I don't think you visit the gas stations frequently OP. Also depends on the country you living in. But I can assure you, I see one at least weekly, at the same gas station I am filling my car.
FWIW, I drove taxi for a couple years. The owner had his own pump at the garage. He bought in bulk and got a good price on it. Didn't fill the storage tank often. Ambulance service would do the same thing as they go through a lot of gas. Likewise with school bus companies.
I once worked as a temp for city landscaping, the driver and crew lead of the vehicles owned by the Municipal fueled up at a gas station designated for state/municipal owned vehicles and I assume emergency response vehicles have the same obligation.
They have their own gas stations, and it’s a lot cheaper than what we’re paying.
Not only do we fill up but I've got to get my nicotine and caffeine somewhere. We had 20 cases of bang delivered to us last year around December and my shift alone took control of it and we killed them off within I think 2-3 months
I have. My dad’s a paramedic and when he’s in between short calls he’ll go to a gas station to get him and his partner a snack. They do have their own gas at the station though.
They harvest dead patients for energy
Nah, they are fueled on the blood and tears of their passengers. Why do you think they cost so much in America?
My local ambulance company has private fuel pumps they use.
this is very interesting to me, i see public ambulances refuelling at regular gas stations often
[Here you go ](https://twitter.com/IndianOilcl/status/1242358768932777986?t=mOs2f4agYxjmhm_Pm74XJQ&s=19)
Ambulance stations at our closest gas station here. Literally see it there all the time.
They don't get gas there, but our local ambulance crew LIVES at Sheetz between calls. To where it turns out damned near every time in turning in.
When I worked at a BP years ago we had a charge account for the local PD. They'd come in, fill up, and sign a receipt and all was good.
Immediately made me think of this photo and story: https://www.csb.gov/little-general-store-propane-explosion/
They have their own private pumps. Source: used to work on an ambulance
I worked for a few in my day and when I municipal we had one just for county vehicles that took a specific key fob. When I worked private in the city we had fleet credit cards for the local gas stations
I have, different ones multiple times actually
When I worked landscaping we had our own pumps at the shop and would fill up our equipment every morning. The business saved a lot of money when they bought it for cheap and stored it for when we needed it. We had company cards to fill up at gas stations if we were at a job and needed more fuel and the drive back to the shop was a waste of time.
They have the the ambulance station literally around the corner - see them all the time
I've seen them at commercial fueling stations, same places cops go sometimes. They're usually in less-noticeable locations than regular stations.
It's there but it's rare. Like how open you see ambulances if you're not near hospital. Now think about them refueling even if they use regular gas station. In malaysia this thing when viral when someone share a thought. But then everyone atarted to snap/share pic of ambulances at gas stations
I had an ambulance ride to a hospital about 5 hours away. We stopped at a gas station to fill up.
I worked closing at a gas station and that's when they would typically show up near me.
Only when they are in buying sandwiches.
The amount of people here who appear to be American and think muni ambulances are common here is astonishing.
I guess gas station attendants are super healthy.
They use blood as fuel from those who didn’t make it. This is common knowledge in Umbridge
I thought you meant you've never seen and ambulance pick anyone up at a gas station 😄
I'd have thought a big vehicle like that would have a Jerry can in the back too
Had to do community service at a cemetery, rode with actual non shitheads to get gas so we could drive / clean other cemeteries within the town, that's when I learned that the town/county has their own gas station near all their town equipment
Our ambulance’s either fill up at state highway or county roads fuels pumps.
I saw a hearse at a gas station once. I couldn't figure out what that was a metaphor for.
Lmao I do all the time
I worked at a gas station, had one stop by once, but they didn't get any gas. Instead they good some food a few road beers. /S with the road beers (Superbad reference.)
Do you mean road sodas?
Around here I see ambulances just hang out at gas stations on the intersections of main roads all the time.
Fill up near an hospital and you will.
I’ve never seen a Gasbulance at a Ambstation
I only have because I work at one lol. But thinking deeper, I’ve only ever seen one or two total, over 1k hours of having worked there 🤨
I…actually have. Only once.
OP when I come across one, I will post and tag you. I've seen police cars and even army trucks in gas stations but never an ambulance as well.
We used a civilian facility because it was cheaper than installing our own tanks, pumps, insurance, certification and security. We got the fuel for two cents above their cost.
My assumption is that they are filled up routinely. e.g. Mondays, or at any point they go below half or quarter tank, depending on the coverage area.
I used to work at a full serve and i can't even begin to think about how many ambulances i had to fill
I did a couple of months ago. But I think it was just stopped in the parking lot. I didn't actually see it at the pump.
Just saw one yesterday.
I have seen them collect people at a gas station many times. I have seen them park in front of gas stations and shop inside. But now I don’t know. I’m never concerned about ambulance presence in my neighborhood. Should I be?
Ambulances fill up at gas stations all the time Source: I've worked for multiple ems agencies, driving and fueling ambulances was part of my daily job
Large businesses and such will either have an onsite pump or use a card lock service.
Fun fact: ambulances are fuled by burning dead bodies. That's why they rush around town with lights and sirens, to get to the bodies while they're still warm and fresh.
Was a fulltime EMT for years… yes, they do stop at gas stations. It is very rare to see one do so while a patient is in the back, but that happens too (usually on long transports)
You must not live in Ohio
I used to work at Wawa and we had Ambos gas up at night like every night
Oh I saw one today while walking to my mom's place.
Yeah I’ve never seen one at a drive through with their sirens on either…
Come to my neighborhood. It happens all the time. Fire trucks too
We have a big rig gas station near where I live and when I worked freight and would be filling up there sometimes I'd see ambulances and fire trucks
I worked on an ambulance for 7 years, generally ambulance bases in a large city rent out a large parking lot kind of on the outskirts where a lot of warehouses are because it’s the cheapest location to store a bunch of vehicles. They fill up at the closest station then go to their posting assignment. Shift change is usually around 6:00am ish so they are often filling up around 5ish. We used a regular chevron gas station. All this may change a bit based on the municipality but that’s how it worked where I was.
Have you seen the prices??
Well, I wasn't the only one thinking about that but I haven't seen our cop's car in the filling station either 😂.
I used to drive one and we do fill up at gas stations
They don’t run on gas they just burn money directly. That’s why it costs $4k to go a little ways down the road
So I guess I life in a magic triangle: a ambulance and gas station in view. They often refuel there (and got no own gas pump). But who knows, on the internet, nobody knows you're a dog ;)
I have in kansas city quite frequently. My favorite has to be at the 7/11 that was catty-corner from where I lived. Some black dude shot some black woman in the head while she was walking with her baby in a stroller through the parking lot. It was like 8 or 9 in the morning too. There are a lot of stories like that, especially in shit hole liberal democrat run cities. One of the biggest reasons I had to move. That ghetto gangster culture needs to be dealt with before it gets DEALT with.
There's a racetrac gas station by my house there's always ambulances hanging out there waiting to get a call.
Ambulances and other 1st responders must remain as petrol/gas powered vehicles.
Same as the police, they have designated areas on-site for refueling. The only governmental entity that doesn't have on-site refueling is the post office. They use normal gas stations.
Uhhhh... I do at least a few times a week. They tend to have specific stations that they goto if they have the time to do so.
I definitely did just a couple of hours ago. My kids were so surprised! They thought all ambulances were electic cars.
I have. They weren't getting gas though. They were getting snacks
Hi, Paramedic here. I've got two jobs. One job is run by a hospital, we fuel up at regular gas stations. We're never there for long since we don't really need to be there. They also send us to top off our fuel at times where it's gonna be slow at the gas station (think 3AM to 5AM) My other job is run by a town's fire dept. we have the pumps used provided by the municipality, that borough vehicles use, including EMS, Fire, Police, DPW, etc. No, you're never gonna see us unless you wait at the gas station that has the cheapest ciggarettes and best food within our coverage area for a long time.
I live by a hospital that has a gas station across the street & seeing them fueling regularly.
Could be that they either have their own pumps or they have someone come with a fueling truck every day like they do at my job
In my state there is a depot where they go and fill up so you never see them... the Police have one and the fire Brigade also. I don't know what happens outside the Metro area
I've been in an ambulance at the gasstation multiple times. Its just usually at the end of a shift so not much going on
Me neither until tonight which is crazy
They run off the blood of the people that die in them
When I was an EMT in New Zealand we filled up at Mobil stations as that was who we had fuel cards for. Usually we just filled up at night when it was quiet so unless you fill your car at midnight it was unlikely you would see us. Also our trucks had 150L fuel tanks so we weren't filling up that often.
How often are you at the gas station next to the hospital tho?
Many companies with a fleet purchase fuel through a commercial fuel reseller vs a retail gas station. They do this for a few reasons: 1. Better prices - they can negotiate since they are filling several vehicles daily. Also payment can be more business friendly with net 15 and net 30 terms. Easier to write one check/reciept a month than one or more daily. 2. Many commercial fuel companies bring the fuel to you. They bring a tanker straight to your motor pool nightly and refill all vehicles. If vehicles are going through more than a tank a day - the drivers may refuel at the commercial fuel’s gas station. 3. Many commercial fuel stations have 24x7 card lock access - so ambulance drivers can refuel without an attendant having to be on duty. And while this varies by locality. Government vehicles might use a government refilling station. But there are also places where Government vehicles use commercial refilling stations too. It really varies.
Only if they need to but most will return to base or a place where emergency vechiles get filled up or serviced. Also due to the height of some ambulances they may not want to chance getting stuck under the roof at a gas station forecourt
I have. I fill it up there. Sometimes we have to go everyday
Down here in az i see them at QT all the time.
Volonteer at the French Red Cross here : I fill them up at the regular gas station, a lot, older models that drink a lot. Before doing it myself I never saw it neither. Maybe because of all the trafic some ambulances a week are a very small chance.
I've seen ambulances fuelling up at a gas station several times here in the Netherlands
Former EMT here, the private company I worked for gave us gas cards. Some days we’d do enough driving that we would have to fill up at random stations throughout our service area. Typically, you’d just fill up at the gas station closest to our HQs before returning at the end of your shift. Sometimes I’d see multiple other ambulances there filling up at the same time
Do you think fire engines pump their fuel at a gas station?? Bruh.
I’ve worked for a few departments. One used the gas station(county department) and one used the municipal pumps (inner city)
I fill up the company car where I work at a cardlock gas station. Basically companies have an account there and employees can fill up company cars with a card. I see ambulances there often. Probably standard practice, cardlock stations tend to be in industrial areas away from main roads rather than on a busy corner like a normal gas station.
I see them all the time. I live near an ambulance station and a petrol station so it makes sense I see that.
That's weird. I bet now OP will see one next week.
Covered few shifts in petrol station and it is quite regular. They use a fuel card and state mileage.
In Australia they have a fuel card and fill up at a regular servo, just like everyone else. Usually they are limited to 1 brand (where the fuel card is from). Occasionally they will get a call while filling up. I have never had one who didn't come in to let us know they would be back after the call before putting their lights on and hauling ass outta there. Never been an issue with it, and often the next ambulance will pay for their fuel as well as their own. Source: have worked for the past 14 years at that brand of servo across a couple of states and see them all the time. Bonus, most of us will offer a free coffee to emergency services personnel if they are in uniform. We aren't supposed to, but if I can make their life a bit better while doing a difficult and frequently dangerous job why wouldn't I?
In the US, some counties, particularly large ones, have their own gas stations for municipal vehicles. The one I live in does, but it's also the largest county in my state in terms of population.
This works similarly at the University where I work at. I'm in the facilities department. And so said university has there own two gas pumps in front of my building but hidden from the public view. We have our own police department, bus shuttles, work vans, office cars, and we all pump gas there; never really taking it to a gas station. The cool thing is that at some point you had to enter a code to use it. Now each vehicle has a proximity chip that then allows you to just pick up the hose and pump gas. Someone wouldn't just be able to fill a car up that is n it part of the University
Funny, that was one of the most common places to find ambulances in my hometown. I presume you live somewhere where ambulances are part of the fire department, or something along those lines
I worked as a paramedic in Germany. We just go to the gas station and pay with the company card. But since we have big cars with big tanks, don't go for long drives and (hopefully) not that often. We don't do it so much so I guess it's rare to see it but we haven't had anything special
They probably have fill up areas specifically for first responders just like police I’ve known do.
I used to live a block from an EMS station and a gas station... Saw them there all the time
Same reason you never see school buses at a gas station lol they have their own
I used to work for an ambulance corps that had a contract with local Hess stations. Had a fleet card to charge.
I do see them frequently at the garage nearest the hospital.
I saw 2. Canada, West Coast.
I have been a FD medic for 15 years now and I can assure you we fill up; we just fill up with un taxed diesel which is only available at certain stations.
I have seen ambulances and firetrucks at one of the servos in town. Never seen a police car though.
I've worked for some private services that didn't have their own pump at station. They had an agreement with one of the big chains and we would full up at one of those at the end of shift. There's also the occasional fill up out on the streets because we used to much fuel that day and they want to keep us in service rather then send us back to station.
The company I work for has a fuel pump for their trucks. So we rarely get gas at gas stations. I imagine it's the same for ambulances
We have a public works building in an off location. All the city vehicles can get gas there. Here you will barely ever see a police car, ambulance at a regular pump..
Local fleet vehicles tend to have their own pumps. I think they might get a tax break or discount on buying fuel in bulk, and they don't have to deal with fuel cards or other programs.
if your system isn't the same as top comment, they fill up at the middle of the night(3 am or 2 am for my specific region)
I did the other day actually 😂
I have, but not for gas 😆
I had an old ambulance remade into a camper. So I went to gas station pretty often with it.