It's not the first time we've told you about this story, someone with a medical emergency in Youngstown and no ambulance to answer their call.

This weekend, Youngstown police took one man to the hospital in a cruiser because he thought he was having a heart attack, and no ambulances were available.

We know the city is working with AMR ambulance on a plan to give better coverage to the city, and the city is looking to run it's own EMS program, but that planning could take a year to do.

This past Sunday morning just proved how dire the situation has become.

In two hours on Sunday morning, there were four calls in the city for an ambulance when none was available, which only proves the call for a solution grows louder with each passing day.

When it comes to medical emergencies, every second counts and the ambulance shortage is having an impact not only in Youngstown but nationwide.

There's concern that getting a medic to a patient on time -- isn't always possible.

One Youngstown woman who did not want to be identified tells me:

"An ambulance not being available when you call is a major concern. Taking a loved one to the hospital by car added even more anxiety to what I was already feeling."

That's why the Youngstown's Firefighters Union is now extending an olive branch to the city's administration.

Charlie Smith is the President of Firefighters IAFF Local 312, "Basically this is an on-going problem that's not going away, and us and the administration need to sit down and figure something out. Because the citizens deserve better than the services, they're getting right now from a private ambulance company."

On Saturday morning there were at least four instances where
AMR or American Medical Response ambulance service that contracts with the city was unable to respond to 911 calls.

At 4:43 a.m. during a suicide in progress, a mother learned no ambulance was coming and drove her child to the hospital.

At 5:12 a.m. a female screamed "helped my baby," and no ambulance was available again.

At 6:48 a.m. a man having a seizure and AMR has no one to transport him. Youngstown fire responded.

At 6:48 a.m. A man having a possible heart attack is taken to the hospital in a Youngstown police cruiser because no ambulance was available.

A life or death situation that needs it's own emergency fix.