What started out as a fairly low key, educational experience, soon took an unexpected turn for Cory Jane and Beauden Barrett.
As part of a new partnership with Wellington Free Ambulance, the two Hurricanes spent some time with paramedics and call centre staff at their Wellington station on Friday morning.
It wasn't long before a serious call came in, and the boys hit the road with paramedics.
"It was definitely an eye opener," said Jane.
"I actually started to panic a little bit. We went through a couple of red lights - those ambulances can move."
The call-out they were off to was a cardiac arrest in Hutt Valley, and both players were astounded at how the staff handled life and death situations on a regular basis.
"I was amazed at how calm they were," said Barrett.
"You get some pretty stressed callers, as you can imagine, and they do an amazing job just talking through the situation and keeping them calm while the ambulance is on its way."
While the two All Blacks were out on the front line, Callum Gibbins, Ardie and Julian Savea, Jeff Toomaga-Allen, Jeremy Thrush, Iopu Iopu-Aso, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Hurricanes staff received CPR lessons from WFA.
Most of the boys hadn't done CPR since their primary school days, so it was great to be able to refresh their minds and skills.
Ambulance officer and Operation Heartbeat trainer, Corey Burrowes, said it was often the general public who were faced with having to perform CPR in a number of situations.
"In teaching people like the Hurricanes these vital skills, we hope it will result in a life saved somewhere down the line."
Wellington Free Ambulance resilience manager Warren Cornor said knowing what to do, and having the confidence to step in and help could literally mean the difference between life and death.
"It's vital that the general public learn these skills - no one knows when they are going to need them."
"We believe in keeping Wellington safe, and we do it for free because emergencies shouldn't cost lives or money."
Cory Jane was amazed the ambulance service was the only free one in the Southern Hemisphere, but there was one thing he thought the service was missing.
"They're missing a pole. We had to run down the stairs to get to the ambulance, so yeah, a pole would have been good."