Ambulance Monopoly Unhealthy for Peoria
Ambulance Monopoly Unhealthy for City
PJS Forum letter
Ambulance monopoly unhealthy for Peoria
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Now I know why I must not have the misfortune of having a heart attack in the city of Peoria.
If the Peoria Fire Department arrives to help me before Advanced Medical Transport (AMT), which they usually do, the firefighters are not permitted to transport me to the hospital. They can do nothing to help me except basic life support, and then they must stand by and wait for AMT to arrive at the scene. Many of the firefighters have advanced level training and are paramedics, but because AMT has a monopoly on patient transport and paramedic care, valuable time is wasted. When every second can be a matter of life and death, the stricken patient pays the price.
Unbelievable, right? Believe it.
In Peoria (as opposed to East Peoria, Morton and Pekin), money is apparently more important than lives. We had better heed Dr. John Carroll's concerns. He's been right all along.
Ambulance monopoly unhealthy for Peoria
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Now I know why I must not have the misfortune of having a heart attack in the city of Peoria.
If the Peoria Fire Department arrives to help me before Advanced Medical Transport (AMT), which they usually do, the firefighters are not permitted to transport me to the hospital. They can do nothing to help me except basic life support, and then they must stand by and wait for AMT to arrive at the scene. Many of the firefighters have advanced level training and are paramedics, but because AMT has a monopoly on patient transport and paramedic care, valuable time is wasted. When every second can be a matter of life and death, the stricken patient pays the price.
Unbelievable, right? Believe it.
In Peoria (as opposed to East Peoria, Morton and Pekin), money is apparently more important than lives. We had better heed Dr. John Carroll's concerns. He's been right all along.
Rose Kelley
Peoria
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