Police ask the public for help
By Suzannah Gonzales
Austin American-Statesman (Texas)
Copyright 2006 The Austin American-Statesman
All Rights Reserved
In five incidents over the past 14 nights, equipment has been taken from ambulances in and around patient unloading areas of local hospitals, Austin police and Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services officials said Thursday.
The missing equipment includes a monitor, which costs about $20,000 and is used to resuscitate patients who have experienced cardiac arrest; two airway bags, which contain oxygen tanks, over-the-counter medication and tubes that help patients breathe; and various small pieces of equipment.
“It’s extremely discouraging,” EMS division commander Jason Martin said.
The equipment cannot be pawned and could be dangerous if used by an untrained person, he said.
Martin said officials suspect that someone might be watching the ambulance dock and waiting for the crew to go inside the hospital before going into the ambulance to take equipment.
In a couple of cases, the ambulance doors were left open as the crew attended to patients, authorities said. In others, locked ambulances were broken into.
In each incident, the crew, who restock the ambulance after each call, noticed something missing, and the ambulance was taken out of service while equipment was replaced and investigations took place, EMS officials said.
“Two minutes is too long,” EMS spokeswoman Milissa Warren said, referring to taking an ambulance out of service.
The incidents occurred at St. David’s Hospital and Seton Medical Center. An ambulance from Fayette County that was parked next to an Austin-Travis County ambulance at Seton also was broken into.
The ambulances have been restocked and are back on the street.
The thefts are third-degree felonies, Austin police Lt. Max Westbrook said. Each incident is also a class B misdemeanor because it disrupts EMS service, he said.
Anyone with more information on the missing equipment or who sees suspicious activity around ambulances or hospitals is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 472-TIPS.
Ambulances were broken into in two other incidents in April of last year, they said.