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Iowa ambulance crash sparks concerns over possible 72-hour shifts

Video shows plastic wrap holding together what’s left of an ambulance; the EMS provider driving is suspected of falling asleep behind the wheel in the 4:30 a.m. crash

KCCI8 News

DES MOINES, Iowa — An early morning ambulance crash near Newton is raising concerns over how long paramedics can work without rest.

There’s no official cause of the crash yet, but several former employees told KCCI that the company asks some employees work up to 72 hours straight without enough time to rest.

Plastic wrap is holding together what’s left of the MidWest Ambulance that landed in a ditch and rolled several times around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The ambulance was on its way back to Des Moines from Dubuque and didn’t have a patient onboard at the time of the crash.

Read full story: Photos show torn apart ambulance after crash