By EMS1 Staff
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Emergency crews contracted with a private ambulance in Charleston had to pay $150 to prevent their ambulance from being towed while dropping off a patient.
According to ABC 4 News, the Advanced Medical EMS crew had nowhere to park outside MUSC Rutledge Tower when they arrived at the health center with a patient. They parked at the corner of an adjacent BP Gas Station to make sure their patient arrived at their procedure on time.
Upon return, one of the first responders doled out $150 to have a tow truck driver remove the locks from the ambulance so they could go back to work. Police also intervened but could not do anything about the situation since no crime was committed.
“Don’t hold me liable for your driver’s mistake,” Tony Gentile, owner of JG Towing, said in response to the issue. “It’s somebody else’s property. So, if you parked somewhere and you don’t have permission or you just leave your car there unattended for two or three hours, what is the owner supposed to do?”
There are three ambulance parking spaces that are designed for MUSC Rutledge Tower, officials said. There are also nine additional parking spaces outside the ER.
BP Gas Station employees noted that the ambulance was unattended for more than two hours sitting in a “No Parking” sign. However, Theresa Picard, owner of Advanced Medical said the ambulance’s GPS shows that the vehicle was only sitting at that space for one hour.
Picard hopes that more parking spaces will be added so this never happens again.