LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — While the rest of the country isexperiencing ambulance shortages. Here in Las Vegas, those I spoke to say they are aggressively pursing ways to combat that.
In an overflowing lot, Community Ambulance Senior Director Glen Simpson explains how the company has grown since 2016.
Simpson says back in 2016, they were responsible for about 18% of the call volume in Clark County. As of last month, they were responsible for just over 60% of call volume.
His fleet of over 70 ambulances is a hodgepodge of different types of ambulance vehicles.
Glen Simpson: A lot of of what we're experiencing is having to procure used ambulances or we're having to take boxes off of our ambulances. And when we're able to find a chassis, be able to put that box on the chassis for us—that's resulted in, you know, a higher cost to be able to do business on our part.
The shortage is resulting in additional costs.
Costs to accrue new ambulances, retrofit old ones, and cross training his team of over 700 paramedics on how to use the fleet.
Channel 13 also reached out to the Las Vegas Fire Department. They say they too have been impacted by the shortage but that they're "implementing alternative strategies to minimize wear and tear on their vehicles to maximize their lifespan."
On a national front, Damon Schilling with AMR Medic West says they haven't experienced the hardships smaller more local companies have.
Schilling says because of their national footprint they have the ability to reallocate ambulances to different operations throughout the country.
He explains how it's a manufacturing issue:
Damon Schilling: When a smaller ambulance company is ordering two or three ambulances they're kind of getting behind the line of a company like ours who's ordering 17. And maybe another company ordered 24 while they're only asking for three which is a reasonable number their 145th in line.
Here in Las Vegas, while there has been some struggle for our local ambulances, Simpson says we have nothing to worry about when it comes to safety and calling 911.
Simpson: We've been very fortunate in that we're not...we're not short. So we're not experiencing what others may be experiencing in that we're not able to put ambulances out on the road.
