DETROIT – A firefighter in Detroit is demanding answers after it took 35 minutes for an ambulance to arrive to transport a man who was having trouble breathing.
When a person is having difficulty breathing that is considered a priority one call. Detroit Fire Department commissioner Chuck Simms said a delay of that length is “unacceptable.”
The firefighters called for an ambulance at 3 a.m. on Sunday, June 18, when a patient at a gas station was having trouble breathing. Initially, they were told the estimated time of arrival would be 10 minutes.
The firefighter in charge of the scene said he waited an additional nine to 12 minutes and then asked again for an updated ETA. He was told to wait another nine minutes.
The firefighter asked dispatch how long they had been on scene. They were told they had been waiting for 27 minutes. By the time EMS arrived, the crew had been waiting for around 35 minutes.
The firefighter was so concerned that he wrote the chief of fire and EMS communications. Part of that letter reads “Would it be possible to please look into why we spent nearly 35 minutes on scene with a patient before the arrival of a transport unit?”
The following statement was provided by Detroit Fire Department commissioner Chuck Simms:
“A 35-minute ambulance response time to a Priority One run is unacceptable. Medical first responders were on scene within 7 minutes, however the delay in an ambulance response was due to a combination of a brief shortage of available transport units and human error at dispatch.
“An ambulance that became available four minutes after Engine 55 arrived was mistakenly sent on another run that came in after the request on West Warren. The next ambulance that came available was dispatched to West Warren but had a longer travel time, which added to the delay.
“We understand the seriousness of this kind of a mishap and are addressing this issue with our dispatch staff to prevent this kind of error from happening again.”
Officials said the patient did get transported to a hospital and is doing OK.
The Detroit Fire Department said 35 ambulance units are in service from 1 p.m. Wednesday through 1 a.m. Thursday morning. That is with the help of a private ambulance company. The goal is to have 40 rigs on the streets daily.