Next Time, We'll Tow the Ambulance Instead
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) Dublin International Airport (search) pledged Tuesday not to tire-clamp any more ambulances after one was disabled while trying to get a seriously injured passenger to a local hospital.
The ambulance was given the clamp better known in the U.S. as the "Denver Boot" Saturday even though it was parked in a section reserved for emergency crews immediately outside the entrance.
"It's mind-blowing," said David Hall, owner of the privately run Life Line Ambulances Ltd. (search) "No inquiries were made about the patient, to find out how acutely ill they were before the clamp was applied."
He said the episode had distressed the patient and embarrassed the ambulance crew. Irish media identified the patient as a man in his 30s who had been badly injured on a skiing vacation.
"The airport police could have easily made a phone call to the owner of the company me if there was a problem," Hall said. "You don't just apply a clamp to an ambulance on an experimental basis."
The police also refused to accept the ambulance company's credit card to pay the $82 fine. Instead, paramedics were required to withdraw their own money from an ATM.
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) Dublin International Airport (search) pledged Tuesday not to tire-clamp any more ambulances after one was disabled while trying to get a seriously injured passenger to a local hospital.
The ambulance was given the clamp better known in the U.S. as the "Denver Boot" Saturday even though it was parked in a section reserved for emergency crews immediately outside the entrance.
"It's mind-blowing," said David Hall, owner of the privately run Life Line Ambulances Ltd. (search) "No inquiries were made about the patient, to find out how acutely ill they were before the clamp was applied."
He said the episode had distressed the patient and embarrassed the ambulance crew. Irish media identified the patient as a man in his 30s who had been badly injured on a skiing vacation.
"The airport police could have easily made a phone call to the owner of the company me if there was a problem," Hall said. "You don't just apply a clamp to an ambulance on an experimental basis."
The police also refused to accept the ambulance company's credit card to pay the $82 fine. Instead, paramedics were required to withdraw their own money from an ATM.
