GRESHAM, Ore. (KOIN) — With time ticking and no ambulances available, Gresham police and Portland Fire & Rescue worked together to rush a critically wounded person to the hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning.
A dispute between two people began inside Alexander’s Pub in Gresham, around 181st and Burnside, about midnight. Then they moved outside to the parking lot where one man was stabbed multiple times, KOIN 6 News learned.
A Portland fire crew arrived and found the man with life-threatening injuries. But at that moment, the closest ambulance was in Clackamas County.
“At the time, AMR, the provider for the area, was ‘Level Zero,'” said Gresham PD Detective Adam Wright. That meant “they had no ambulances available.”
Wright said time was of the essence — which is the one thing they didn’t have.
“Clackamas is a pretty big county. The nearest part of the border is probably 15 minutes normal driving time and an ambulance on a far side of Clackamas County can be over an hour away,” he told KOIN 6 News.
Since there were no ambulances immediately available and PF&R deemed the injuries too critical to wait, the crew decided to have the injured man taken to the hospital in a Gresham police car already at the scene.
“They actually took the patient and put him in a lifting tarp we have and put them in the back of our car. He was conscious the whole time,” said Lt. Terry Foster with PF&R. “Our paramedic rode in the back of the law enforcement vehicle to the hospital. And during that time, the bleeding did increase.”
Complete KOIN coverage: AMR paramedic shortage
“Seconds matter on critical trauma incidents,” said PF&R PIO Rick Graves. “Whether we transport you in an ambulance or find another way to get you to the hospital if an ambulance is unavailable, we’re going to do it. I’m very proud of our members for adapting to the unique circumstances of this call and providing the patient with the best chance for survival given these circumstances.”
As of Sunday evening, KOIN 6 News learned the victim remains hospitalized but is expected to recover. The investigation into the stabbing continues and at this time no arrests have been made.
Ongoing ambulance issues
AMR, the ambulance provider for Multnomah County, has recently been at odds with the county over their requirement that each ambulance have two paramedics. That, AMR maintains, puts a staffing strain on them since the other surrounding counties only require one paramedic and one EMT.
Recently, the Gresham City Council voted to demand Multnomah County adopt the one paramedic/one EMT model. So far, Multnomah County has not changed its stance.
When asked for a statement on the incident, a spokesperson for AMR said:
“American Medical Response (AMR) is grateful to Portland Fire and Rescue and their diligence under such unique circumstances. The level zero event occurred due to the unavailability of our Multnomah County first responders, meaning all available ambulances were working other calls.
“To prevent level zero events from happening, we must be able to staff more ambulances. Given the national paramedic shortage, this is a daunting task under the dual paramedic staffing requirement imposed by the County. AMR has made significant progress in our mediation with county officials, and we look forward to continuing to collaborate to find an equitable solution to the current crisis the EMS system is experiencing.“
