A Montreal ambulance was taken for a joyride by an ostensible patient on Tuesday night.
At 10:45 p.m., a woman was sitting in the vehicle waiting for treatment when she suddenly got into the driver’s seat and hit the gas.
Chief of Emergency Health Operations Francois Labelle said two EMTs went to meet the woman, who appeared intoxicated, at the corner of St-Antoine West and Walker. The woman was taken aboard the vehicle but while being transported to hospital, she became agitated.
With one attendant struggling to keep her contained, the paramedic who was driving stopped the vehicle and came to help.
As the driver left the vehicle, the patient broke free of her stretcher and made it to the front. The two EMTs left the vehicle, which is protocol in the presence of a disturbed person.
The woman drove for roughly 1.5 kilometres before being stopped and arrested by police at the intersection of Maisonneuve Blvd. West and Vendome in NDG.
The woman struck several vehicles during her drive but no injuries were reported. On Wednesday morning, it was unclear if the woman had been arrested or if she would face criminal charges.
Labelle said the ambulance’s driver should have removed the key from the engine when he stopped but was in a rush to help his colleague in a stressful situation.
