By EMS1 Staff
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — While responders were tending to a patient, a thief broke into their ambulance and stole hypodermic needles last week.
Officials said the theft occurred as responders were handling an overdose call.
“I mean, literally the police and fire were there with us and while we were in the house attending the patient, they’re going through the ambulance,” Gordon Merry, Cabell County EMS director, told WSAZ. “I’ve been doing this 43 years and when I started, I never thought anybody would go through an ambulance to try to steal needles.”
Merry said locking ambulances poses a threat to patient safety.
“If I lock the ambulance and I have a critical patient and the locks fail, now I’m in a terrible situation,” Merry said.
Following the incident, notifications have been sent to police officers and firefighters, warning them to keep an eye on ambulances.