This is one of the consequences of the war in Ukraine: the price of a barrel of oil is soaring. Record beaten on Monday with a new rise in diesel, plus 3 cents in a week, according to the government. A blow for the ambulance workers, big consumers of fuel in Finistère.
For several weeks now, Julien Traineau, the manager of the Ambulances du pays de Quimper, has seen his bills soar. “I was at 4,000 euros in February last year, now I’m at 5,000“, he calculates. A 25% increase which weighs down the company’s accounts. With its 10 vehicles, each year it carries out more than 600,000 kilometers. “It’s quite infuriating because the pricing does not increasehe continues. But we have people who are counting on us, we have to drive.”
New instructions
The company manager therefore plans to give new instructions to his drivers. “I’m going to ask them to drive as ecologically as possible and to avoid unnecessary trips.“, explains Julien Traineau who does not exclude either limit overtime to offset the cost of fuel. The schedule will also be rationalized to avoid empty transport and reflection is underway for a renewal of the vehicle fleet. “We are thinking of committing to hybrid vehicles, but when and with what means? It’s a good question“, asks the Quimper boss.
In any case, there is no question of sacrificing patients. “We will continue, there is no other solutionhe hammers. The day I have to tell a patient that we can’t take him because we have fuel problems, it will really hurt my heart.“.