Here we go again: soap box time. I didn’t think I would be covering this again ... but … this is my third time writing about ambulance theft.
My first article, “Respond in 8 minutes, gone in 60 seconds,” sounded the alarm that ambulances across America were being driven off scene because we leave them running, open and unguarded.
The second article, “Grand theft ambulance — the crime we’re letting happen,” warned that these incidents were not slowing down. They were accelerating.
And now, here we are again, with a fresh batch of cases collected and curated through www.EMSIntel.org, the AIMHI- and AAA-supported national EMS intelligence platform.
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Three articles in, and ambulance theft continues at a pace of roughly one every 2 weeks in the United States.
“ I am past concerned. I am past surprised. I am increasingly furious that we are still allowing this to happen. ”
Because now the stakes have risen. These are no longer stolen vehicles found a few streets away with a dented bumper and an empty IV tray. These latest incidents involve stolen ambulances with medics still in the back. Stolen ambulances with patients still strapped to the cot. Stolen ambulances chased at high speed by police, with gunfire, crashes, injuries and entire communities forced to dodge a half-ton missile wrapped in reflective chevrons.
In Michigan, a patient and a paramedic were inside the rig when the ambulance was taken from a crash scene.
In Illinois, an ambulance was pursued under live gunfire until it ended in collision and carnage.
In Oklahoma, someone moved an ambulance while patients were in the back.
In South Carolina, a knife-armed offender stole an ambulance after robbing a restaurant.
In Tampa and San Diego, it was not even ambulances, but full fire apparatus being taken and driven into the public roadway.
The trend line is not flat. It is rising in violence, recklessness and consequences.
Preventing ambulance thefts: The solution is simple
In my first article, I called theft alarming. In my second, I called it systemic. In this third, I will say what feels irresponsible not to say. This is now negligence. Because immobilizers exist. Mandatory lockout exists. Proximity key shutdown exists. The technology is affordable, readily available, and already used by delivery fleets and city buses. You can secure a $50,000 pickup truck with push button immobilize from your phone. Yet a $700,000 ambulance that carries human beings and controlled drugs can be taken by anyone with shoes fast enough to climb inside.
We are not talking about futuristic solutions or multi-year RFP processes. We are talking about a fix that costs less than a single portable monitor case and will prevent the next medic from being trapped in the rear of a stolen ambulance travelling at motorway speed.
Every police pursuit triggered by ambulance theft endangers officers who did not sign up for this specific kind of risk. Every rollover threatens the public who never meant to share a road with someone drunk behind a siren rack. Every crash throws sharp edges, oxygen cylinders, and unsecured equipment across the patient compartment where professionals who deserve better are terrified for their lives.
We keep counting the thefts. We keep writing the articles. We keep wringing our hands while calling this unusual when the frequency now proves it is routine. We could stop most of these incidents tomorrow by making it impossible to drive the ambulance without the authorized fob present or without a driver seated and belted. It is simple. It is cheap. It is overdue.
Here’s the data since July of this year.
I am not writing because the situation is complex. I am writing because it is simple. I don’t want to write a fourth article, but we all know that unless something drastic or even perhaps legislative changes, I’ll be back.
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