Byline: William Jones; 1970-06-12; The Chicago Tribune; pages 1-2
Report: Private Ambulance Firms Exposé - Task Force - Chicago Tribune
Tags: investigation, posed as drivers, private ambulance companies
"The 79-year-old man had just been pronounced dead in the hospital emergency room, but that was not what was worrying the ambulance driver. A disposable oxygen mask that sells for 60 cents had been used by the Mid-America Ambulance company crew in an unsuccessful effort to revive the victim and now the mask was missing. "What happened to that mask?" the driver asked a nurse. "We threw that away," the nurse replied, pointing to an emergency room waste pail. "We take and sterilize them sometimes and use thm again," the driver told the nurse as he began rummaging thru [sic] the waste container. He located the mask and the crew returned to the ambulance. Then, without even wiping the dead man's perspiration from the vinyl mask, the driver connected it to an oxygen tank to be used by the next patient. . ."
Description:The sixth and final article in the Tribune's series on private ambulance companies in Chicago looks at hospital thefts, vehicle code violations and cost-cutting schemes.
Rights: No known rights restrictions.
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