The ambulance being remounted in recent months at Arrow Manufacturing is now in service, and the final price came in $78 below what the Linn County Ambulance District had budgeted. With the $10,000 for their trade-in and $700 for a used chassis figured in, Operations Manager Sean Hill had estimated the final bill at $65,578, but the final cost was $65,500. Very few modifications had to be made as almost nothing had to be corrected before the Ambulance District accepted delivery, and local paramedics and EMTs should find the remounted ambulance very user-friendly as equipment is stored in the same configuration as it was in the ambulance traded in.
Hill advised the Ambulance Board during Monday evening’s meeting that another ambulance, Medic 3, would have to be replaced next year. The Ambulance District will undoubtedly choose another remount as the Board and Ambulance District personnel seem satisfied with both the cost and condition of the remounted ambulance they just took possession of. Next year, however, the ambulance replacement will have to meet new emissions standards for diesel engines which require a new emissions control device: a urea tank with fluid that has to be changed every $2,500 miles or the vehicle won’t start.
Most of the body work on Medic 3 that was necessitated by a collision with a deer has been completed at CarStar. In addition, the transmission in Medic 1 has been replaced, and the cost was covered under warranty. Although these vehicle issues never caused a disruption in service, the ambulance crews are breathing a little easier now that those issues have been addressed.
- See today's LCL for the full story
