Sat-Nav is a great tool - when it works. It is not infallible. Local knowledge, whilst not infallible, is far more valuable. Crews all over the country are being sent further and further afield. Bosses say that stats require less full-blown ambulances and more Rapid Response Cars so's they can treat and refer. This means that in quieter areas crews are sent on stand-by. Move from one quiet area to a slightly less quiet area. This costs fuel, the environment and more mileage on all the vehicles concerned. In many areas of rural/sparsley populated Britain one ambulance can cover an area of approximately 1200 sq miles. NO KIDDING! Sometimes it is more. Mostly it is less but not by much! Not only that but mobile phones work intermittently as do radio systems. Stations have to put out pleas to their divisional offices for O/S maps when this should be the norm. More emergency ambulances, more RRVs and more crews. It's not hard to see. I don't mind where i am sent... not for me. But i do mind for poor Mrs Jones who's getting the first tweaks of cardiac problems and we're still 40 miles away. People in rural areas realise that facilities are not going to be as numerous as in urban areas but they quite rightly do expect a reasonable service rather than "you'll be lucky" or "then you should move". I am sorry for the family concerned but they need to shout at management not the crew. Perhaps the public need to know how rock-bottom moral is in the ambulance service across the country. It's not the patients so much as the lack of decent management. 'Scuse the rant. I am fed up of seeing stories that finger-point at crews. It's about time everyone learned about responsibility and true accountability. Crews will continue to get lost whilst they are expected to cover areas of which they have no personal knowledge and we can not be expected to know the ins and outs of every hospital that we might attend in the duration of our service. Quite frankly it's something of a miracle that there aren't more incidents documented