Was O’Connor’s debate story true about ambulance breakdown?

As the ambulance climbed hilly Madeline Street last week in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood, racing to a man in cardiac arrest, a dashboard coolant light blinked on.

The driver for Medic 12 requested a back-up ambulance out of an “abundance of caution,” according to Emily Bourne, a Pittsburgh public safety spokesperson.

In the end, Medic 12 rendered aid to the 41-year-old patient — but Medic 8 took him to the hospital to avoid any potential transport problems.

Despite the hiccup, no ambulance broke down, the city said.

But that didn’t stop mayoral candidate Corey O’Connor from making that exact claim Tuesday night during a debate on WTAE with his Democratic rival, Mayor Ed Gainey, as he skewered the incumbent for failing to care for the city’s fleet.

“Right now, we have ambulances that break down to and from calls,” O’Connor told viewers. “We had an ambulance break down Friday taking somebody for a cardiac arrest to the hospital.”

Here’s what actually happened on April 17 — a Thursday — according to the Gainey administration.

A call for help came in at 2:03 p.m. Paramedics arrived and began rendering aid within 10 minutes, according to Bourne. She said the coolant light, which came on while the ambulance was en route to the call, did not hinder first responders’ ability to help the patient.

Medics revived the man and transported him to UPMC Mercy hospital in a different ambulance, but not because of any breakdown.

“The unit was still operational. It was still drivable,” Bourne said Thursday.

The driver requested another ambulance because “he was not sure if it was going to be something more catastrophic,” according to Bourne.

“At no time was patient care delayed or in jeopardy because of the truck that was en route,” Emergency Medical Services Chief Amera Gilchrist said. “There was no delay in them getting there.”

O’Connor, who is Allegheny County’s controller and a former city councilman, said that explanation doesn’t mitigate his concerns. First responders have been reporting ambulances breaking down for years.

“It’s putting people’s lives at risk,” O’Connor told TribLive Thursday, while sidestepping the issue of stating inaccurate information during the debate. “We know this is not the first one to have broken down. I think that’s the concern. That should be the concern for everybody.”

Gilchrist told TribLive Thursday she is concerned about the fleet but pointed out that problems with it date back decades.

“The fleet, all of our equipment that we need to go out and help citizens, is paramount,” Gilchrist said. “The fleet is at the end of its life. We’ve been fortunate thus far that there has not been any catastrophic incidents, but it is something that’s concerning.”

‘Incredibly frustrating’

The coolant problem with Medic 12 was easily fixed, Bourne said. Another crew that responded to the scene had coolant in their vehicle. They topped off the ambulance’s fluid, she said, “and all was well.”

The low-coolant ambulance was actually a back-up ambulance, part of the reserve fleet the city keeps on hand for when its frontline vehicles — the newer ones typically in use — are out of service.

Bourne said the primary Medic 12 ambulance had been sent to the garage for routine maintenance. While there, workers discovered a larger mechanical issue.

That ambulance is still out of service, Bourne said.

“It’s incredibly frustrating,” Jon Atkinson, who heads the union representing the city’s EMS workers, said of recurring vehicle issues. “We can’t take care of the sick and injured if we can’t get to them. The fleet is not in good shape.”

He said it’s not uncommon for crews to have to switch to back-up ambulances. Sometimes, an ambulance that comes out of the garage is sent back with the same problem — or a new one — within just a few days, he said.

City Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, who chairs council’s public safety committee, called for a meeting May 6 to discuss problems with the public safety vehicle fleet.

He held a similar meeting about two years ago and is concerned he hasn’t seen much progress to a fix a vehicle fleet officials then said was in “dire straits.”

Gilchrist, the EMS chief, said during the 2023 meeting that 75% of the EMS bureau’s frontline vehicles had over 100,000 miles at that time. She said the city had seen ambulances break down en route to the hospital with patients inside.

“I think that’s unacceptable,” Gilchrist told council members two years ago. “We need vehicles.”

Decline in fleet spending

At any given time, Gilchrist said, about three to five of the city’s 13 advanced life support trucks will be out for some type of maintenance, forcing crews to use the older reserve fleet.

The fleet problems, Coghill said, are a result of years of disinvestment spanning several administrations. Officials have estimated the city should be investing more than $20 million in the fleet each year to keep it from becoming too old and prone to breakdowns.

This year’s capital budget includes about $6 million for vehicles.

The city’s spending plan calls for dropping that to just over $3 million next year. It would dip to as low as $2.4 million in 2029 and 2030.

“How are you going to buy new equipment over the next few years with $2 million?” O’Connor asked in the Tuesday debate.

Exacerbating the problem is a backlog of ambulance orders. Supply chain disruptions during the covid-19 pandemic delayed shipments. Many municipalities used federal covid-19 relief money to buy extra ambulances, making wait times even longer.

The city currently is waiting for eight new ambulances, which will rotate eight current frontline ambulances to the spare fleet, Bourne said.

Two of those ambulances should be ready next month, Gilchrist said, though the others do not yet have a definitive timeline.

O’Connor has repeatedly suggested asking nonprofits to chip in to pay for ambulances. Officials have long struggled to get nonprofits — including hospitals and universities — to provide financial support to the city.

“Part of their mission is saving lives,” O’Connor said of Pittsburgh’s multibillion-dollar health care giants, UPMC and Highmark. “You know what saves lives? Ambulances that work.”