Another ambulance fail

Today we read about another incident in which first responders had to drive a seriously wounded person to the emergency room themselves because there were no ambulances. This time it was in Gresham.

On Sunday, May 5, emergency responders had to transport a stabbing victim in a Gresham Police car because the county was at a level zero for ambulances.

The county ambulance provider, American Medical Response, had dispatched an ambulance from Clackamas County.

Officials told KATU News on Sunday that they didn’t want to wait and instead had the victim ride in the back of a police car with a paramedic...

Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson in February issued a four-point plan to help address the staffing. Other county commissioners and local leaders expressed concerns about the staffing model.

It's not the first time this sort of thing has happened. In Portland, they recently commandeered a Tri-Met bus to get a guy to the hospital.

This is a complete failure by the Multnomah County government, which controls ambulance service within its boundaries. We need to stop voting bobbleheads into the county commission seats based on the boxes they check. Lives are at stake, literally.

In the meantime, evertybody in Multnomah County needs to have a Plan B for getting to the hospital in a hurry if they need to.