Another Thing Philly Does Poorly: Ambulance Care

Today’s Daily News cover story by Sean Collins Walsh will probably make you terrified ever to sneeze in this town ever again. Plainly put: The city’s emergency medical care system is outdated, understaffed, overworked and—as a result of all these factors—slow to get to the actual medical emergencies most in need of response. Ambulance units here run 6,000 to 8,000 calls per year, roughly double the national standard of 2,500 to 3,000 calls a year. And it’s taking a toll. “I don’t get a break. My body just feels like it’s so tired,” one paramedic told Walsh. “I’m picking up these people, carrying them down the steps. We do a lot of physical work besides the fact of doing the [mental] work … with the adrenaline pumping when you’re trying to save someone.” The problems won’t get fixed soon, though. Why? Because the firefighters union and Mayor Nutter won’t make peace. [Daily News]