Ample ambulances during July 4 weekend despite Oakland police chief's claim otherwise
OAKLAND, Calif. - There was an ample number of ambulances on hand the weekend of July 4 in Oakland based on information from Falck Ambulance Services despite the city police chief's claims that the paramedics were overwhelmed and didn't have enough resources to respond to the mayhem.
No one is disputing that it was a violent July 4th weekend in Oakland, complete with seven shootings, a man killed by blunt trauma, a massive sideshow, countless rounds of celebratory gunfire and a barrage of illegal fireworks lighting the sky in a 12-hour span of July 4 and 5.
However, Jeff Lucia, a spokesperson for Falck, provided details about the company's performance that called into question Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong's claim last week that the level of life-threatening violence was so high that the ambulance system was taxed to the limit and therefore, slow to respond.
At a news conference, Armstrong said: "Our Falck ambulance system was over inundated with calls that they were unable to respond in a timely manner to these shootings. Ambulances did not have enough resources to come out and assist in the city of Oakland."
But Lucia told KTVU that as violent as July 4 was in Oakland, the "EMS call volume overall was fairly typical."
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Lucia said there were 21 Priority 1 calls between July 4 at 6:30 p.m. to July 5 at 10 a.m. in the Oakland or "North Metro" zone, and the average response time was 7 minutes and 47 seconds, which is just about the national average.
In addition, Lucia said there were 34 staffed ambulances in the system during that time period, which seemed to be more than adequate.
During the specified time period, Lucia said that Falck had an average of eight ambulances that were available and not even used.
He added that Falck crews also did not call for any mutual aid.
The Oakland police department did not respond for comment on the apparent discrepancy.
Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at lisa.fernandez@fox.com or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez