Thursday, May 26, 2011
** New Zealand transport authorities cracking down on motorists claiming their vehicles are ambulances
** Russian undertakers under scrutiny after paying medics for tips on dying or dead patients
NEW ZEALAND NEWS
** Transport authorities are vowing to crack down on motorists who falsely register their vehicles as ambulances to save money. That is the word from the Taranaki Daily News (Leighton Keith/May 19) which said authorities believe around 1300 people have committed the crime. Not required to show proof of the vehicle’s function at the time of registration, bogus EMS vehicle owners save about $200. New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) media manager Andy Knackstedt said his organization is fed up, but is planning on giving fraudsters a final chance to come clean. Letters informing questionable ambulance owners of the penalties are about to be sent out. A newly passed law can also cancel any dubious registrations.
RUSSIA NEWS
** Prosecutors in Yekaterinburg are investigating after an incident in which an undertaker showed up at the home of a seriously ill woman instead of an ambulance. The BBC (May 17) said the violation is just one in a long line of abuses detailed in a report on failings in emergency healthcare. According to the news service, problems are rampant across the country with undertakers bribing paramedics to alert them to dead or nearly dead patients. In addition, ambulance services in places like Novosibirsk have apparently been absent at times altogether due to fuel shortages.
