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EPA now ruining ambulances


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2013 Aug 8, 1:20am   1,905 views  15 comments

by zzyzzx   ➕follow (5)   💰tip   ignore  

http://spectator.org/blog/2013/05/31/epa-now-wrecking-our-ambulance

A D.C. ambulance rushing a gunshot victim to a hospital Wednesday had to pull over to avoid engine failure that fire officials blamed on an emissions system required by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Paramedics were performing CPR on Nathanial McRae, 34, when an indicator light signaled that engine failure was imminent. They waited seven minutes for another ambulance to arrive, and McRae was later declared dead at Howard University Hospital. Deputy Fire Chief John A. Donnelly said the ambulance delay did not impede McRae’s care.

The diesel engines at issue are designed to cut power if exhaust filters are not kept clean, a process that requires the vehicles be taken out of service for up to an hour every few days to burn off accumulated soot and allow the filtering system to perform well. The process is known as “regenerating.”

So if the filters aren’t kept clean, the engine automatically shuts down. Usually a warning system gives ample advance as to when the filter is getting too dirty, but in this case it failed to activate. And even if everything is working properly, that still means emergency services departments must rotate vehicles to give them time to regenerate, and pay for the filter which has a hefty price tag of $30,000.

Not surprisingly, this has caused ambulances and fire trucks to break down at record rates. After a San Diego fire truck went offline at the scene of an emergency, California lawmakers and the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Southeastern Division got involved. The EPA then approved a rule that gives itself the authority to sanction engine changes to emergency vehicles if requested by the manufacturer. But to take advantage of this, Washington would presumably have to purchase an entirely new fleet of fire trucks and ambulances, a costly endeavor.

#environment

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1   edvard2   2013 Aug 8, 1:32am  

zzyzzx says

Deputy Fire Chief John A. Donnelly said the ambulance delay did not impede McRae’s care.

That was from the article BTW...
But nevertheless, there are countless mechanical and electrical systems on board any modern vehicles that could fail at anytime and cause the vehicle in question to stop running. So in that case, where would the blame go then?

2   zzyzzx   2013 Aug 8, 1:51am  

edvard2 says

So in that case, where would the blame go then?

I don't know, but I do know that something emissions related shouldn't shut down an ambulance or fire engine.

3   edvard2   2013 Aug 8, 2:02am  

zzyzzx says

I don't know, but I do know that something emissions related shouldn't shut down an ambulance or fire engine.

Ok, in that case if the spark plug wires fail, what then?

4   zzyzzx   2013 Aug 8, 3:24am  

edvard2 says

Ok, in that case if the spark plug wires fail, what then?

Quit trying to confuse the issue. We are supposed to be referring to an unnecessary mandated shutdown as opposed to some sort of catastrophic failure that can't be helped. That and a diesel engine doesn't have spark plug wires. The issue is a stupid bureaucrat deciding that an emissions failure should immobilize a vehicle. Think about all the unintended consequences that this could have. Bringing in a tow truck is costly and unnecessary for an emissions failure, and think of all the extra emissions the tow truck is going to cause.

If you read the article, this new emissions system seems to be a maintenance problem as well. I suppose one way around the EPA is to use a gasoline engine instead of a diesel, but then some people might worry about a spark plug wire failing.

If it matters, I have never personally had a spark plug wire go bad.

5   edvard2   2013 Aug 8, 4:12am  

If you fail to clean the air filter in your car then the car will do the same thing. Who's to blame for that? Either way, your article is another puff piece put out what I assume are the same shills who think anything the EPA does is eeee-ville and we'd surely be better off without Catalytic converters, material safety data sheets, and so on. Perhaps some of those who feel as such should consider a nice vacation to China and drive around. At rush hour. Then get back to us.

6   zzyzzx   2013 Aug 8, 4:20am  

Of course if it's for Obama, it get an exception:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-ambulance-delay-linked-to-epa-required-filtering-system/2013/05/30/261869a4-c942-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html

Donnelly said the D.C. fire department, through a manufacturer, obtained one EPA waiver for a new foam truck that is dispatched to the White House for presidential helicopter landings and takeoffs. But he described it as “quite an arduous process” and said it was granted because the unique design of the foam truck could not accommodate the filter system.

7   zzyzzx   2013 Aug 8, 4:23am  

edvard2 says

If you fail to clean the air filter in your car then the car will do the same thing. Who's to blame for that?

Problem really only mostly applies to emergency vehicles since truckers won't have this problem:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-ambulance-delay-linked-to-epa-required-filtering-system/2013/05/30/261869a4-c942-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html

The new filtering systems are required on all diesel engines built after 2007. Regeneration, however, is more challenging for emergency vehicles and other trucks that do a lot of stop-and-go city driving. In commercial trucks, by comparison,the filters can be cleaned automatically by driving for about 20 minutes at a sustained speed above 45 mph. Ambulances in big citiesrarely travel that fast for that long. Idling causes the filters to dirty quickly, and ambulances idle for hours at emergency scenes and hospitals, several fire officials said.

So it's really not like a car air filter. Will have to dig deeper to see how it actually works. Military and construction vehicles are already exempt, presumably because they don't normally cruise on the highway enough to automatically regenerate.

8   Homeboy   2013 Aug 8, 4:25am  

I bet we're going to find out that the warning lights DID come on, and the ambulance driver is a lying sack of shit.

9   edvard2   2013 Aug 8, 4:40am  

We're talking about maintenance systems here. Take away the EPA part and this is no different than any other serviceable aspect of any vehicle. This is a lame attempt to pin something on the EPA when there wasn't anything to pin to start with.

10   zzyzzx   2013 Aug 8, 4:45am  

edvard2 says

We're talking about maintenance systems here. Take away the EPA part and this is no different than any other serviceable aspect of any vehicle. This is a lame attempt to pin something on the EPA when there wasn't anything to pin to start with.

It's about excessive government regulations that are a genuine nuisance and in this case life threatening. It's places like China and India that really need a EPA. We don't need more EPA regulations, the ones we had 10 years ago are just fine.

11   edvard2   2013 Aug 8, 4:56am  

zzyzzx says

It's about excessive government regulations that are a genuine nuisance and in this case life threatening.

Dude, did you read the part in the actual story you yourself posted where:

"Deputy Fire Chief John A. Donnelly said the ambulance delay did not impede McRae’s care."

So far you've yet to post anything in any way that indicates the EPA hampered this situation. We get it. Right wingers hate the EPA and think we all would be better off breathing clouds of coal smoke. But if you're going to try and make a case... at least choose a story that has a point.

12   zzyzzx   2013 Aug 8, 5:00am  

edvard2 says

Dude, did you read the part in the actual story you yourself posted where:

"Deputy Fire Chief John A. Donnelly said the ambulance delay did not impede McRae’s care."

Of course they don't want to admit to any fault.

13   edvard2   2013 Aug 8, 5:08am  

zzyzzx says

Of course they don't want to admit to any fault.

Lame. So now its pending a belief that they made that part up? Really?
Go find another anti-EPA story. This one didn't work.

14   Ceffer   2013 Aug 8, 5:13am  

Hmm, we'll just go back to the firehouse for coffee, donuts and darts until they fix it.

15   Automan Empire   2013 Aug 8, 6:48am  

A crap article written by someone who doesn't care about clean air. I grew up in Los Angeles, and have watched firsthand as the air has gotten cleaner as population and industry increases.

Vehicles that use Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF, it contains urea derived from pig urine) do NOT arbitrarily shut down when this fluid runs out. There is a FOUR LEVEL warning system, wherein the driver is warned, then the engine will be "derated" for a time, meaning it won't produce full power; then will eventually not start.

I think the fleet manager of the ambulance company deserves to be in the hot seat. Blaming the EPA, when exemptions EXIST for emergency vehicles, is partisanship on the side of FTW profit today.

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