Lost Maryland Ambulance Never Finds Scene

HYATTSVILLE, Md. -- While everyone seemed to keep their cool, there was a great deal of frustration evident on the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department radio system Tuesday night. A fire engine crew was with an injured elderly woman at an apartment complex and couldn't get an ambulance to come to the scene.

A PGFD spokesman and the chief of the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department (Station 807) confirm that despite efforts of the firefighters to guide the lost Riverdale crew, a second ambulance had to be sent, arriving 48-minutes after the initial dispatch. Ambulance 807 never got to the scene.

PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady tells STATter911.com, "The lack of a timely response and arrival is totally unacceptable." Brady believes the delay had no adverse impact on the patient's condition. The elderly woman was treated by the engine crew during the wait for an ambulance.

Riverdale VFD Chief Charles Ryan III wrote in an email to the blog STATter911.com there were some mitigating circumstances, but that "Ultimately, there is no acceptable excuse". Chief Ryan says he has been "deeply involved in the investigation" and has counseled the individuals and clarified "what steps they need to take to ensure this doesn't happen in the future".

According to Mark Brady and Chief Ryan, the call was dispatched at 8:42 PM for an injured woman at 4915 Eastern Avenue. The building is a large, four-story senior citizen's complex known as Avondale Park.

Engine 855 from Bunker Hill and Riverdale's Ambulance 807 were dispatched. Brady says that "Engine 855 arrived, made patient contact and initiated BLS care for a small laceration to the face of one of our senior citizens at 8:47 PM."

For the next 35 minutes the firefighters on the scene attempted unsuccessfully to guide the ambulance crew to the scene. Brady says at 9:22 PM another ambulance was dispatched. This ambulance, from Hyattsville, arrived at 9:30 PM. The Riverdale ambulance was then told to disregard the call.

Chief Ryan says his crew was hampered by a wrong location provided by a GPS unit on the ambulance, map issues and bad information on a printout from the computer aided dispatch system.

Brady says the entire incident is being reviewed by PGFD officials.

Residents of the building say that those unfamiliar with the address often have difficulty finding the location on the first try. Prince George's County fire and ambulance crews respond regularly to 4915 Eastern Avenue and the adjacent St. Ann's Infant and Maternity Home to handle emergency medical calls.

Republished with permission of WUSA-TV.