Ambulance shortage

FACED?WITH?an acute shortage of vehicles,  the Barbados Ambulance Service has reportedly been forced to turn a number of calls for help over to private ambulance companies to service.
For the past two months the Ambulance Service has been operating with only two or three vehicles because about  six are in workshops  for repairs, well placed sources have said.
Of the three vehicles presently in operation,  one cannot be driven if  it rains because there is a mechanical problem with the wipers and the parts have to be imported.
When asked about  this situation, Minister of Health John Boyce said it was an ongoing problem at the Ambulance Service, adding that turning  to private companies was nothing new.