As ambulance shortage continues, long wait delays shooting victim who died at hospital

One of our photographers was on scene as first responders did their best to find an ambulance to take a shooting victim in Fairfield to the hospital.

The 18 year-old victim died from his injuries at UAB West.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputies reached out to a number of entities before reaching out to the Rocky Ridge Fire District which is 18 miles from where the shooting happened.

Assistant Fire Chief of the Rocky Ridge Fire District, Michael Bartlett, says because of shortages across the county they have taken calls from as far away as the Warrior River area.

See also: Alabaster Fire Chief looks for solutions to ambulance shortage

“We’re nowhere near Fairfield, but we got all the way down on the pool until they asked us for help because they can’t get a service to get out there and take care of a patient. I think before they call us, they go through every private ambulance. Us as a county fire department, they call us as a last resort,” he says.

Bartlett says this is a problem that’s happening several times a day, and it’s getting more and more difficult to deal with.

On top of staff shortages, when ambulances get to the hospital they have to wait longer for the patients to get care at the hospital because of backups and the nursing shortage.

Bartlett says the shortage is growing, and especially impacting private ambulance services.

See also: Shortage of paramedics contributing to ambulance shortage in Central Alabama

“We started a unit there and I think they found one closer eventually, but this is a problem that’s not just yesterday. This is a problem that’s happening daily, many times, every day. The west side of Jefferson County is reliant on private ambulance. Most of the fire departments out west don’t transport their own patients,” says Bartlett.

The Jefferson County Commission is still awaiting results from a consulting firm they hired to help fix the issues. In the mean time, fire departments like rocky ridge fire district are doing what they can to fill the gaps.

Bartlett says the best way the public can help is to only call 9-1-1 for emergencies and not issues that a primary care doctor can take care of.