The Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Officials in Juneau are looking at ways to speed ambulance service from the hospital to the airport.
City Manager Rod Swope says the issue is a concern particularly with the companies that provide emergency transportation to other locations, such as Seattle and Anchorage.
He says most of the runs are not critical. But he says it leaves the plane and its crew waiting for the ambulance to arrive because they’re off on another call.
Since the slow down is largely due to cruise ship passengers in the summer, Swope says 1 of the things he’s looking at is the use of marine passenger fees to hire additional staff.
He says his goal is to solve the problem without an additional impact on taxpayers.
The other option is to have private enterprise take over that chore, but Swope says there’s no interest in that at this time. He says Guardian and Air Lift Northwest prefer to work with the city and borough.