SP15 GMAT-WCs1
Essay: Argument #14
Author: Marta Muske
01/28/15

Citing the facts from the editorial section of a newspaper that the volunteer ambulance has a longer average response than the commercial ambulance, the author concludes that the volunteer service should be disbanded and commercial service hired in order to provide better patient care and to raise revenue for the town. This line of reasoning is problematic in several critical respects. First, the statement that volunteer ambulance has a longer average response is not precise. It is not specified in the newspaper how much the average response for both ambulances is. It is entirely possible that the time difference in responses is not so long but the volunteer service has better quality aid and medical care. Thus, judging the quality of medical service only by the response time is not correct. Second, the author assumes that disbanding volunteer service will raise revenue for the town because commercial ambulance will collect service fees for ambulance use. This assumption is questionable because it overlooks a number of other factors that might have contributed the increase in revenue. For example, the revenue can be increased by other services that the town can provide for its residents like new shopping and transportation facilities, sport events and eating centers. Hence, this is fallacious to rely just on commercial ambulance fees. Third, even if the volunteer service will be disbanded and the quality of commercial ambulance service will be better, it will not necessary remain true in the future. The author has not proven that better patient care will be provided in the future by commercial ambulance. One option for the ambulance is not enough to deal with car accidents. Moreover, one ambulance on site will also lead to increase of response time to accidents. Next, the argument