In addition to functioning as a fire pumper, the platform's aerial device provides an elevated working platform for enhanced firefighter safety during operations around buildings as high as six stories, he explained.

The new truck will allow firefighters to safely provide better emergency response to incidents requiring aerial operations, he said.

The work required to convert the first floor into a 24-hour per day staffed fire station includes the following, Kerley said:

• The office space must be converted to residential living quarters as required by code.
• The failing HVAC has already been placed out of service due to system failures and must be replaced on the first floor.
• The History Center will have a separate HVAC system on the roof.
• The electrical service and breaker panels must be rewired to separate the two floors, along with splitting the main service centers coming into the building.
• A new water supply system will be installed, replacing the leaking galvanized pipe.
• New shower stalls and drains for the laundry room equipment will also be installed per code.
• Fire rated drop ceiling, new tile floors, and new carpet, along with repairing exit doors and emergency lighting, will be included.
• A new gas heating system will be added to the truck bay to replace the out-of-service boiler system.
• Oak Ridge Utility District will be separating the natural gas service and running new service to both areas of the building, the History Center and Fire Station.

While it is one of four Gold Cross ambulances fitted for neonatal and pediatric intensive care teams, the vehicle is the only quad cab, which will allow nurses to ride up front with the ambulance crew members instead of in the back. If a parent wants to ride with their child, there will also be room for them in the ambulance.

Infants who have to be transported from another hospital or who need a higher level of care will also travel in the new vehicle. That includes premature babies who need an incubator, which the ambulance is capable of transporting.

Police said the ambulance traveled down an embankment and came to rest in a field below. The car that was hit by the ambulance ended up in a grassy field opposite the roadway. 

According to police, at least three ambulances came to transport the victims from the first ambulance. One emergency responder was removed from the first ambulance and placed on a stretcher. 

The so-called “mobile stroke-treatment unit,” which leaders at Methodist Hospital will begin deploying on May 28, is outfitted with equipment and emergency responders capable of starting victims’ care the second the high-tech ambulance arrives on the scene, according to a physician.

The roving emergency room also features telecommunication equipment its crew can use to video conference with neurologists, who can advise on treatment as the patient is rushed to the hospital.