Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1992 TAG: 9203040276
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I'm kind of mad," Langhorn said. "I can't believe there is someone walking around that thinks this is funny. It's kind of stupid if you think about it."
Shortly after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, Langhorn and fellow rescue worker Hank Pfister were dispatched to Caru Apartments to attend to a elderly woman complaining about pains in her legs. They parked their ambulance in the 3500 block of Donna Drive Northwest and walked to the woman's apartment.
A few minutes later, the woman decided she didn't want to go to the hospital. When Langhorn and Pfister walked from her apartment, they noticed the ambulance was gone.
"I first thought we had gotten turned around," Langhorn said.
Meanwhile, they had received a call to attend to an assault victim on Tennessee Avenue.
Langhorn and Pfister checked the other side of the woman's building to see if the ambulance was there. When they realized it was nowhere in sight, they called dispatch so another ambulance could be sent to the Tennessee Avenue call.
"I couldn't believe that someone had the guts to steal an ambulance that was on an emergency call," Langhorn said.
That didn't set well with Wanda Reed, the city's emergency medical services manager, either.
"If it was a prank, it was a very poor prank," Reed said. "It really could have cost someone their life."
Reed was plenty thankful when the ambulance was found parked near Eighth Street and Madison Avenue about 10 a.m. Tuesday. A cab driver saw it after rescue officials asked Yellow Cab Co. to join in the hunt.
When it was found, the ambulance's doors were locked and the keys were in the front seat. It and its equipment, valued at $100,000, did not appear to be damaged. Nothing was missing.
Roanoke police were investigating the theft, but no arrests had been made Tuesday.
The rescue workers had left the ambulance, which is owned by the all-volunteer Roanoke Emergency Medical Services Inc., with its engine running and doors unlocked.
Reed and Jimmy Dean, the operations officer for the company, said it isn't practical for rescue workers to lock an ambulance's five doors and turn off its engine before attending to patients.
Time is critical when injuries or illnesses are life-threatening, they said. An ambulance's entire crew may become involved in treating a patient. They don't have time to fumble with ignition and door keys.
Also, some of the city's ambulances have diesel engines, which Dean said can be difficult to start in cold weather.
Dean said REMS officials will attempt to make sure that no other ambulances are stolen. An electronic device may be installed that would shut the ambulance off if the proper numerical code is not entered before acceleration, he said.
While the ambulance was missing on Tuesday, a backup ambulance had to be sent from the Day Avenue station to replace it at the Melrose Avenue station.
"You wouldn't think someone would have the gall to jump in an ambulance and take off," Dean said.
Langhorn, who works as a campus police officer, offers a different explanation. "I think there are some people who just don't care."
by CNB