Seattle 9-1-1 Callers Sometimes Get Uber, Not Ambulance

More than 1,000 times in a year, someone in Seattle may dial 911 for an ambulance to the hospital and get picked up by an Uber instead.

Proponents say these rides can save patients money and ease pressure on ambulances. Skeptics say they may pose risks for patients and drivers.

The rides have been happening since February 2022, when the city partnered with its private ambulance contractor to launch a 911 nurse line.

Rather than send aid to all 911 medical callers, the Fire Department’s 911 dispatchers now transfer some patients to nurses at a call center in Texas.

The Nurse Navigation program, operated by American Medical Response’s parent company, is designed to reduce strain on ambulances and hospitals by diverting people with minor problems to options like clinics and self-care.

But there are gaps in Seattle’s setup, The Seattle Times recently showed by investigating the case of a woman named Pamela Hogan, who waited 10 hours for an ambulance ordered through the nurse line and never got care.

Ride-share vehicles are part of the picture, as well, because the nurses sometimes order one of those rather than an ambulance. Among about 7,400 calls transferred from Seattle’s 911 center to Nurse Navigation in 2024, 14% resulted in ride-share rides to hospital emergency rooms, according to AMR.

AMR pays for the rideshare transports and says they’re a good option for people who don’t really need ambulance rides, which can be costly.

Uber drivers can sometimes reach patients quicker than ambulance crews can, said Fire Department Lt. Charles Hubschman, a 911 dispatcher. Seattle added AMR’s nurse line partly because ambulances were getting backed up.

The nurses order the rideshare vehicles only for patients who agree, AMR says, citing the example of someone headed to the hospital with a broken finger.

The most common medical problems for rideshare transports in Seattle in 2024 included abdominal pain, leg pain and anxiety issues, according to AMR, which is using the rideshare option for patients in other cities across the country.

These rides are basically the same as when people hail a ride to the hospital on their own, the company said, except it’s a nurse placing the order.

Potential concerns

On the other hand, it’s possible for the rides to turn sour, said Gena Shapiro, who had a bad experience when calling 911 with severe knee pain.

The Seattle resident had on a previous occasion waited four excruciating hours for an ambulance, so when a nurse offered her an Uber instead, Shapiro agreed. But the nurse said she had to hurry outside her apartment to meet the vehicle, so the driver wouldn’t get impatient, cancel the ride and leave.

“Telling me, ‘You need to be out there in five minutes,’” Shapiro recalled.

That was difficult for Shapiro, who uses a walker. The Uber driver didn’t know how best to help Shapiro into his vehicle and dropped her off at the front entrance of Swedish hospital rather than at the emergency room entrance.

“I don’t think the guys doing the Uber or Lyft are even remotely qualified to deal with medical patients,” Shapiro said. “It was just ridiculous.”

Patients may become sicker while riding in an Uber and may need medical attention their drivers aren’t trained to provide, said the Drivers Union, a Teamsters affiliate that represents drivers in the Seattle area.

“I believe relying on Lyft or Uber for 911-related transportation poses significant challenges,” Peter Kuel, who served as president of the Drivers Union until recently, said in a statement last year. “Many things can go wrong.”

Rideshare drivers don’t have communication channels with hospitals to make sure emergency rooms are ready to accept a patient, Kuel said. They also don’t have lights and sirens to get through traffic and don’t have personal protective equipment to help them interact safely with patients, he added.

The drivers don’t get any special information from AMR, and the patients have no way to update AMR’s nurse line directly. They can only redial 911.

“To turn drivers into a formal part of the 911 emergency response system without any notification, training or compensation puts a lot of risk and burden onto drivers who didn’t sign up for it,” Kuel said. “For urgent medical situations, professional medical transport is far more reliable and secure.”

Peter Mullenix, legal adviser to the nonprofit Washington Advocates for Patient Safety and a Seattle attorney, said he wonders about liability, as well.

“If the city delegates to AMR and AMR delegates to Uber and then the driver does something wrong, who’s going to be at fault?” Mullenix asked.

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