(Courtesy of MLive)
by Gus Burns
DETROIT — In Detroit, ambulances can be scarce and response times long.
Detroit
fire crews responded to a home on Detroit's southwest side on Jan. 29
and found 6-year-old Miguel Chavez and his 4-year-old brother, Juio, in
desperate need of medical attention.
There was no ambulance.
Because of the dire situation, the young boys were transported in
another, less-equipped emergency response vehicle, a fire truck.
Julio died and his brother suffered critical injuries.
State
Rep. Rashida H. Tlaib, D-Detroit, who lives in the same section of town
as the Chavez brothers, has now proposed two bills in the state House
of Representatives that she hopes will diminish conflicts of interest
and increase accountability among ambulatory Emergency Medical
Services.
The laws, House Bills 4979 and 4980, would apply to
cities with greater than 500,000 residents, of which Detroit is the only
one in Michigan.
"Over the last year, EMS services in our
communities have suffered and children have died because EMS ambulances
have either taken too long to get to the scene of a crisis or have been
unavailable," Tlaib said in a prepared statement. "As we look for more
resources for EMS vehicles, we also must ensure that EMS services in our
urban areas respond quickly and are accountable to the community."
Tlaib's
proposed law would forbid state-mandated Medical Control Authority
administrators to have as stake in the EMS companies that provide
services, which she said has occurred.
"In addition to being a conflict of interest, it also raises the
possibility of someone favoring one EMS service over another even if it
is not the closest EMS service available in an emergency," she said.
The second portion of the law would set standardized protocol for ambulatory response times.
"Last
January, a 6-year-old Detroit boy died from smoke inhalation when the
fire truck, rather than EMS, had to transport him to the hospital,"
Tlaib said. "In the summer of 2012, a 15-year-old Detroit boy did not
survive a bullet wound when no EMS was available to be deployed to that
incident.
"I argued that these tragedies are not isolated
incidents and we must advocate for EMS protocols so that residents
receive critically needed emergency services."
The ambulance
problem in Detroit has caught the attention of local businesses and
corporations who, led by Roger Penske, in March announced an $8 million donation for more than 100 new police vehicles and ambulances.
The first 25 — 15 police and 10 EMS — were delivered earlier this month.
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Reference Link: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2013/09/detroit_rep_rashida_h_tlaibs_c.html
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