Ambulances have many blind spots and have to carry patients. So CAVA stresses safety before speed. The first step for trainees is to pass a defensive driving course. After the course, trainees go through an observation period. With a crew chief riding in the passenger seat, they drive around Columbia University campus and to nearby hospitals.
Trainees have to learn all the one-way streets and the best routes to each hospital.
At a hospital, they must be able to back up to the ambulance bay. They are judged on smoothness, reaction time, stopping and starting. You feel everything when you are in the module where the patient is. Evaluation continues even when the trainees are skilled enough to respond to a call. After the observation period, CAVA's training committee decides whether a trainee can be a driver.