Ambulance providers say they have enough PPE for now; it's lack of calls that worries them

[MPR News, April 15, 2020]

Calls for ambulances have dropped 10 to 40 percent statewide. While sheltering in place has reduced common types of emergency calls across the country, Bruce Hildebrandt, ambulance operations manager for Allina Health EMS and president of the Minnesota Ambulance Association, said he’s worried the decrease in calls means people are forgoing the help they need because they’re afraid to ride in an ambulance that previously transported a COVID-19 patient.

Hildebrandt wants to assure the public: “We take very specific steps to clean our trucks after every call.”

“If you thought about calling 911, there was a reason that you thought that,” he said. “You should call 911 and allow the professionals to come out, evaluate you and make determinations at that point.”