D.C. Integrates Private Ambulances To Improve Response Times

Officials in Washington, D.C., recently approved adding private ambulances to city fleets to bolster performance and reduce response times

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By Mary Velan

Gov1

What Happened?

Officials in Washington, D.C., recently approved adding private ambulances to city fleets to bolster performance and reduce response times. The additional ambulances come after the District’s fleet has come under fire recently for struggling to meet the community’s demands.

Goal

Under the approved plan, the D.C. Fire Chief, Gregory Dean, will retain authority over both the city’s fleet and any private ambulance companies hired to provide additional support. The city’s fleet will continue to meet the needs of residents in critical care, while the private ambulance services will be used in response to patients with nonserious conditions, WTOP reported.

When a 911 call comes into the District’s emergency dispatch center, a city paramedic or emergency medical technician will respond. The first responder will then decide if the patient requires serious treatment or lifesaving care - which would then trigger a call to the District ambulance team. If the condition is nonserious, the private ambulance services will be used, The Washington Post reported.

While the private ambulances will help the department deal with a growing workload, the plan is not a permanent one. Rather, the emergency services department hopes to leverage the private ambulance services in the immediate future while officials reassess what staffing and funding needs must be met to accomplish the department’s goals. The private services will be reevaluated after one year of service, WTOP reported

The Need

Over the past several months, the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services fleet has been overwhelmed by calls on a daily basis. Each month, the department is recording new record high call volumes across the District. The fire department estimates about 2,000 more 911 calls come in each month compared to last year. In August, the city fleet responded to 18,000 emergency calls, over 15,000 of which were medical in nature. However, in almost half of the medical 911 calls made over the last year, emergency responders found patients only needed basic medical attention. Because each 911 call may take a few hours to resolve, ambulance crews are often busy with nonemergency cases for a good portion of their shifts, The Washington Post reported.

Due to lack of resources and manpower, the department has been criticized for flow response times and ambulance shortages. In many instances, fire trucks were used to transport critically injured patients to the hospital instead of ambulances. Often, the District must rely on Maryland ambulance crews to respond to medical emergencies when the city fleet is all tied up. The district has just 39 ambulance and medical units in its full-time fleet. By integrating private ambulances into the mix, about 200 nonserious patients could be transported to the hospital each day, which would free up the city fleet to take care of more serious cases, The Washington Post reported.

The D.C. firefighters union Local 36 acknowledges the need for extra help as the department searches for a long-term solution. The union officials argue prolonged underinvestment in hiring and maintenance of equipment has created the current problem. Moving forward, D.C. officials plan to lease about 11 ambulances to boost the city fleet, as well as replace or refurbish another dozen vehicles over the next year, The Washington Post reported.

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