Your call an ambulance for an ailing family member. It takes a long time to get there. Your family member dies. You receive a bill for the ambulance. Sound impossible? That’s exactly what happened according to NBC News on Feb. 9.
Duran Ford, Jr. called 911 to get an ambulance for his 71-year-old dad who was having trouble breathing in the early morning hours of Jan. 1. The ambulance took over 30 minutes to arrive and Mr. Ford’s dad died while waiting. On top of that sorrow, Mr. Ford has just received a bill for $780.85 for the ambulance that came too late.
“I feel angry. Upset,” Ford said. “I’m disturbed that we even received this bill.”
The records show that the 911 call was made at 1:25 a.m. A fire truck from DC Fire & EMS arrived nine minutes later, but an ambulance was not available. DC fire did not call Prince George’s County for assistance until 1:47 a.m. An ambulance was dispatched from Oxon Hill, Md. to Ford’s home in Southeast Washington one minute later. It arrived at 1:58 a.m. Durand Ford Sr. was dead.
“We’re still grieving about the situation,” Ford, Jr. said. “[We’re] very angry about what happened and the service we did not receive from the district.”
Yvette Alexander, a DC Councilwoman who represents Ward 7 where the Fords live, told News 4, “Based on my experience in similar circumstances, DC Fire & EMS has not billed. This seems quite unusual, and I will help the family resolve this matter,” Alexander continued.
There has been no comment as yet from DC Fire & EMS.
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