And you think your competition is tough: Out-of-town ambulance drivers beat up their rivals
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The Fengtai prosecutor approved the arrest of an ambulance driver and his seven colleagues Friday after they were accused of beating up their competitors who transport outward-bound patients from Beijing. Liu Jiang bought an ambulance that was registered at a hospital in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province. He used the vehicle to return patients leaving hospitals in Beijing to places around the country. Because of the competition, Liu and his friends beat three other ambulance drivers in February who also came to Beijing for the profitable business. Liu said that there were about 30 out-of-town ambulances in Beijing. Besides some fake ones, most of the ambulances were legally registered at other hospitals outside of Beijing but came to Beijing for business. Their service fees were much cheaper than Beijing's 120 or 999 ambulances, according to the Beijing Times. An ambulance driver surnamed Song from Anhui Province said Tuesday that his ambulance belongs to the Taihe County Hospital but he can go anywhere to convey patients. He only charges 2 yuan ($0.29) per kilometer for a single trip, but Beijing's 120 and 999 ambulances charge 10 yuan ($1.46) per kilometer for a round trip. Song's ambulance has all the equipment needed for emergencies, and he can hire qualified nurses and doctors for the patient. Another insider Du Yongshun, who has run an ambulance business for five years in Beijing, told the Legal Mirror that many nurses and doctors hired are not qualified. To evade the risks and responsibility, most of the ambulance drivers asked the patients to sign a disclaimer that the ambulance is only responsible for the transfer, and is not responsible for any emergency. Beijing's ambulance management laws have some restrictions on Beijing's ambulances, but there are no regulations for ambulances from other places.