By Amber Huntand & Ben Schmitt
Detroit Free Press
Copyright 2007 Detroit Free Press
DETROIT, Mich. — Those familiar with Detroit’s Emergency Medical Service say Reginald Harris’ death was inevitable.
The city used to have 24 ambulances available for calls, EMS officials said Wednesday. These days, there are often just 15 ambulances responding to 911 calls for a city of more than 886,600 people.
That’s how many were available Tuesday night, city officials said, when Harris, 60, collapsed down the stairs of his east-side Detroit home. His family waited at least 31 minutes -- they say longer -- for a city ambulance that never came.
By the time a private ambulance from a Warren-based company dispatched by the city arrived, Harris still had a pulse -- but he could not be revived.
The cause of Harris’ death has not been determined.
“I keep thinking he’s going to pull up and get out of the car,” 69-year-old Alma Harris said Wednesday of her spouse of 40 years. “I feel lost. We were great friends.”
Matt Allen, a city spokesman, acknowledged that it took far longer than the 9-minute response time that the city sets as a goal and typically meets.
But Allen said the response time wasn’t more than an hour, as Harris’ family says.
Harris’ death puts a face on the dangers posed by a shorthanded and under-equipped Detroit EMS.
Rachel Howell, president of the city EMS union, said just 15 rigs were on the streets Tuesday night. On Monday, she said, there were only nine.
Detroit EMS is understaffed by at least 50 emergency medical technicians, who provide basic life support, and the city needs to replace maxed-out vehicles sitting abandoned in a parking lot, Howell told the Free Press.
Some of those ambulances will be replaced next week, city officials said Wednesday.
Reginald Harris apparently fell down the stairs as his wife went across the street to take a pair of shoes to her granddaughter. A neighbor told Alma Harris that a man was lying on the floor by her front door.
“It all happened so fast,” she said.
Not so with the EMS response.
“The first call they told me, ‘Hold on,’ ” she said. “The next time, no answer. Then a dispatcher said they were on the way. They never responded at all.”
Allen said the first call came into Detroit EMS at 8:03 p.m.
Dispatchers determined that they didn’t have rigs available. By 8:07 p.m., Universal Macomb Ambulance agreed to take the run. Allen said it’s not uncommon for the city to seek help from private ambulance companies when the city’s rigs are tied up.
Universal arrived at 8:34 p.m., Allen said. He was not sure where the rig came from.
“Our records show a timeline of 31 minutes from the first call to Universal ambulance getting there,” he said.
The Free Press requested to review recordings of the 911 calls Wednesday, but received a verbal refusal from city officials. A formal request for the information has been filed by the newspaper under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
Allen said the city had 327 EMS calls Tuesday, and 140 of those came during the afternoon shift. He said the city has received 73,078 EMS calls for the year through Tuesday.
Harris’ family members said they felt that the response took longer than 31 minutes but acknowledged they couldn’t prove it.
Neighbors performed CPR on Harris as they awaited an ambulance. Family members said Harris had a light pulse when a rig arrived.
Brian Walker, Universal’s general manager, said he couldn’t say if one of his ambulances transported Harris because of medical privacy laws -- so he couldn’t confirm or dispute the timeline Allen gave.
Universal provides mutual aid for Detroit and Hamtramck, meaning it will send emergency rigs out to help when those municipalities need it, as mandated by state law.
“The statute assumes anybody is going to get swamped from time to time,” Walker said. “It’s just a matter of life insurance, which means that if they call, we would help.”
Howell said that the number of ambulances on the street has dropped in the past two years, since the city endured budget cuts that also trimmed the police and fire departments. She said the city needs 16 new ambulances.
Allen said up to eight of those new ambulances would hit the streets next week. The rest will arrive by the end of August.
“We’re having major engine problems with nine that are all under warranty and they have to go back to Ford dealerships,” Allen said. “It’s not like that can be turned around within 24 hours.”
He said the city has active fleet maintenance.
Howell said some worn-out ambulances are being cannibalized for parts. That means fewer ambulances on the street, she said, and longer waits for residents.
“It’s detrimental, as you can see from the incident that happened last night,” she said. “It’s dangerous for our technicians as well. When they do arrive, the family is in an uproar.”
On Wednesday, the Harris family was in disbelief.
“What’s happening with my city when I call for help and they can’t come?” asked Alma Harris as she grappled with how to live without her husband.
Her Goddard home filled Wednesday with friends and family. They listened as she recalled the day 41 years ago when she first met her husband in an Italian restaurant on Woodward by accidentally bumping into him.
“I said, ‘Gosh, you’re tall,’ ” she said. “We were married a year later.”
She and her husband worked as professional auto detailers, traveling around the country nine months out of the year to work at various auto shows.
Howell sent her sympathies to Harris’ family.
“It’s unfortunate a life was lost,” she said, “but without actual units, nothing else can be done.”