Let's Uber-ize D.C. ambulances

Privatization—supported by D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser—is a capital idea whose time, like D.C.'s ambulances, is long overdue.

, --October 5, 2015

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D.C. ambulance service is infamous for longstanding service problems. Life and limb tragedies are regularly compounded by bureaucratic inefficiency. From the mistake of a late arrival after an ailing father had passed away (and billing the grieving family) to an ambulance shutting down due to an EPA-mandated emissions reduction device resulting in the death of a suspect shot by police.
Another critical, little-known problem reported by local channel 4 last week: typical wait time after patient drop-off at a hospital is excessive at 40 minutes (10 to 20 minutes more than other comparable urban cities is a lot when every minute counts). This unfortunate statistic precisely mirrors a 2007 Task Force on Emergency Medical Services Report under then Mayor Adrian Fenty that has not improved one iota in the intervening years. Privatization—supported by D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser—is a capital idea whose time, like D.C.'s ambulances, is long overdue.

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David L. Hunter——

David L. Hunter is an Associate Editor at “Capitol Hill Outsider” and a “Newsmax” contributor.  He’s on Twitter and blogs at davidlhunter.blogspot.com,  He is published in The Washington Post, The Washington Times, “FrontPage Mag,” and extensively in “</b>Patriot Post,” Canada Free Press” and “American Thinker.”