WASHINGTON — Many of the same angry commuters who dumped loads of trash on the Mall in protest of the Metrorail service on Monday were somehow able to get even more upset with the ambulances.
It wasn’t the usual dispute over foot-friendly stations, inaccessible turnstiles or long waits at the doors. Instead, there was anger over the engineering of Metro’s emergency responder cars, the Liberal Democrats of Virginia said Monday.
What happened was this: The ambulances were systematically running more than two minutes ahead of their scheduled response times at the West Falls Church and Broadwater stations, according to the Liberal Democrats, while the ambulances arrived at Largo Town Center, Stafford and Dulles stations at the specified times.
“Failure to coordinate schedules between ambulances and emergency responders is not something that works,” said Ralph McNutt, founder of the Virginia-based organization, which often provides public advocates to civic-minded Virginia residents who think Metro is badly managed. “We don’t have to talk about why things were running behind schedule, the real issue is why they were not run enough, especially with the influx of people who demonstrated on the Mall.”
Metro officials said the Liberal Democrats’ claim is erroneous, telling WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., that the claim they were running more than two minutes late to their scheduled responses was unsubstantiated.
During the midday rally and demonstration at the Pentagon’s west end, squealing tires and body slam-style kicks were visible in the security video, but none of the actions were attributed to Metro.
“Anyone traveling to the mass transit is put in danger,” one protester, Philip Schoeffler, told The Washington Post. “It’s not free. It’s costing people their health and well-being.”
What happened was this: The ambulances were systematically running more than two minutes ahead of their scheduled response times at the West Falls Church and Broadwater stations, according to the Liberal Democrats, while the ambulances arrived at Largo Town Center, Stafford and Dulles stations at the specified times. The medic cars are able to dispatch ambulances when their response times exceed the accepted standard, which is to arrive within seven minutes of the point of medical emergency.
“If ambulances are not being scheduled or dispatched on time, then the procedures need to be re-evaluated,” McNutt said. “These are responsible drivers. They’re not running ‘under an hour.’ There’s actually 27 minutes, 41 seconds under those criteria.”