Fire chief: Uber, Lyft 'unsafe' choices over ambulance transport
Chief Mark Becraft said a ride-share service doesn't have a place in emergency medicine
By EMS1 Staff
DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — A fire chief is speaking out after patients say they now prefer choosing an Uber or Lyft over of an ambulance for transport.
The growing trend of using ride-share services focuses mainly on financial costs, FOX13 Now reported. A ride to a hospital costs less than $30 with a ride-share service versus a few hundred dollars to $1,700 for an ambulance ride in Utah.
"Cost is always a concern that's true, but if it's my family member I would sure hope you'd call the closest ambulance available," Fire Chief Mark Becraft, with North Davis Fire District, said.
Chief Becraft said if patients are having a stroke or heart attack, a ride-share service isn't the right call.
"It's just unsafe," he said. "I think Uber has a place, I just don't think it's in emergency medicine."
Uber encourages riders to take an ambulance in all life or death situations, according to the report.
