WASHINGTON — Fire officials are blaming an emissions system required by the Environmental Protection Agency as the reason behind an ambulance engine failure while transporting a gunshot victim to a hospital Wednesday.
The Washington Post reported that medics performed CPR on Nathaniel McRaie when an indicator light signaled that engine failure was imminent. They waited seven minutes for another ambulance to arrive, according to the report.
Deputy Fire Chief John A. Donnelly said the ambulance delay did not impede McRae’s care, but the victim was later declared dead at Howard University Hospital, according to the report.
The engines are designed to cut power if exhaust filters are not kept clean, which is a process that requires the vehicles to be taken out of service for up to an hour every few days to burn off the soot, according to the report. One way to do this is to run the vehicles at more than 45 mph for 20 minutes.
This is a difficult requirement for ambulances and fire apparatuses that typically run in urban settings. Compounding the problem is that the filters clog faster when the engines are left idling, which is common for emergency vehicles.
Donnelly said a warning light is supposed to flash to give the driver enough time to complete an emergency run before breaking. Instead, a more severe indicator came on warning of imminent failure, according to the report.
“I know they’re trying to reduce pollution emissions, but I don’t know if they contemplated all the dangers,” said Thomas R. Wood, the chief of fire rescue services in Boca Raton, Fla. “Fire doesn’t take a timeout to let firefighters regroup and regenerate.”
Harold Boer, head of the Fire Apparatus Manufacturing Association and president of apparatus maker Rosenbauer, told the Post that a request to the EPA for a blanket exemption for all emergency vehicles has been denied.
The compromise offered by EPA was an extension of the time before engine shut off, which fire service leaders say doesn’t solve their problem.