The supply chain crisis is reportedly threatening emergency medical services in Washington, a St. Helens-based business owner revealed Monday.
Tricia Stockwell, owner of Columbia River Auto Glass, said President Joe Biden’s inability to fix the supply chains has impacted her business’ ability to remain open to serve local emergency medical service (EMS) organizations. EMS is a coordinated system of fast response and emergency medical care that encompasses multiple people and government agencies.
Stockwell told the Chronicle she is having difficulty repairing windshields on EMS vehicles due to the low supply of glass, threatening the ability of EMS ability to respond to medical emergencies. “We depleted the stock that was in all the warehouses and when the (glass) manufacturing plants reopened, most of them, reopen at 25 or 50% capacity. They’re having a hard time getting caught back up,” Stockwell said.
“We weren’t sure if we were open, and customers didn’t really know or call,” she added. “But I got calls that both the sheriff’s office and the fire department medic’s windshields got broken and at that point, we realized okay, I guess we’re essential.”
A mother says goodbye to her son, who had severe coronavirus symptoms, as medics from the Houston Fire Department EMS transport him to a hospital on August 16, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images)
According to Stockwell, her company, which has been in operation for 13 years, has never seen a supply chain crisis endanger her ability to serve EMS. “We really didn’t realize it until about April of this year that was when we first started having supply chain issues,” she said. “It’s something we’ve never seen in our 13 years of business.”
The supply chain crisis may be a product of the federal government and Democrat-controlled states paying people to stay home via generous unemployment benefits. As a result, the supply chain is experiencing a labor shortage, which is impacting ports, trucking companies, and warehouse supply. The bottlenecks have dramatically increased inflation since 2020.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been on paid with his husband Chasten to care for their newborn children. “They didn’t previously announce it, but Buttigieg’s office told West Wing Playbook that the secretary has actually been on paid leave since mid-August to spend time with his husband, Chasten, and their two newborn babies,” Politico Playbook reported October 14.
A Department of Transportation spokesperson confirmed Buttigieg was “mostly offline” since mid-August. “For the first four weeks, he was mostly offline except for major agency decisions and matters that could not be delegated,” the spokesperson said. “He has been ramping up activities since then.”
Buttigieg will continue to be on paid leave in the coming weeks, the spokesperson added.
Breitbart News reported 66 cargo ships were still waiting for port availability on Monday in California to drop their freight before returning to Asia for more loads. “According to statistics provided by the Port of Los Angeles, there were 33 ships at anchor for each of the facilities on Monday, with an average time at anchor and berth of 17.5 days.”
Cargo ships filled with containers dock at the Port of Los Angeles on September 28, 2021, in Los Angeles, California. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
“CEO of Freight Right Global Logistics Robert Khachatryan exclusively told Breitbart News on Tuesday 62 ships were unable to unload” their containers at California ports last week, delaying inventories for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø
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