Following a discussion at last week’s Allen County Commission meeting pertaining to the need for new or remounted ambulances, commissioners were faced with some bad news Tuesday morning.
“We’ve got two of our trucks in the shop,” said Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Director Michael Burnett. With the two trucks out of commission, the department is down to three.
Burnett told commissioners last week EMS needs to have three vehicles available, along with a backup.
The trucks being repaired include a 2011 Chevrolet and a 2016 Ford.
“The Chevy has a major oil leak and we don’t know where it is coming from yet,” said Burnett. “Twin Motors won’t be able to look at it until Aug. 13 or Aug. 14.”
Burnett said the 2016 Ford was taken to Olathe for an alignment when more issues were discovered.
“We’ve had a lot of vibration issues with it,” he explained. “We put new tires and shocks on it. When we took it for realignment, they found a bunch of problems with its rear end.”
He noted the quote for repairs on the Ford was initially $9,000, but they were able to get it down to $4,500. This cost includes a shock replacement on the back suspension and the repair of a radiator leak.
The issue at hand is that if anything were to go wrong with the three remaining trucks, the department doesn’t have a backup vehicle in the interim.
Commissioner David Lee proposed renting an ambulance in the meantime.
“That could get us by, in some form or fashion, for a period of time,” he said. Commissioner Bruce Symes asked if the department is able to “limp through” with the three ambulances.
“We’re doing it now — we’re trying our best,” said Burnett. “The problem is, if one breaks down, we’re going to be down to two ambulances.”
Burnett did clarify that, if need be, the hospital could call area services to help with transfers. “It’s not our preference, but they can,” he explained.
The 2016 Ford was due to be returned to the county last Friday. “I figure, any day now, they’ll be calling to say it is done,” he said.
No decision was made by the commissioners, but Burnett noted he would look into rental and leasing options and return with that information. “Who knows — maybe you’ll get a phone call later this afternoon or evening saying the Ford is ready to be picked up,” said Lee. “And we will have averted any kind of crisis.”
