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San Diego fire dept. objects to ‘unreal’ ambulance delays

Firefighters say they often have to wait 20 or 30 minutes for a Rural/Metro ambulance to arrive

By Jeff McDonald
The San Diego Union-Tribune

SAN DIEGO — Three times in recent weeks, San Diego firefighter-paramedics loaded sick and dying patients onto fire engines to rush them to the nearest hospital.

“They could no longer wait for an ambulance,” San Diego firefighters’ union president Alan Arrollado said of his members. “They needed to save the patient’s life.”

It is not clear how long fire crews had to wait in the three cases, two in Scripps Ranch and one in San Ysidro. Timekeeping records could not be obtained due to a federal law that protects patient privacy.

Read full story: Firefighters object to ‘unreal’ ambulance delays

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