Sherry Greenfield
Baltimore Sun
(TNS)

The new Board of Carroll County Commissioners held its first public meeting Thursday, and with it came a $1.27 million purchase approval for four ambulances to be used by the county’s new Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services.

The purchase, from FESCO Emergency Sales in Elkridge, was requested by Reed Oliver, bureau chief of the county’s Department of Fleet Management and Warehouse Operations, and Michael Robinson Sr., director and chief of the county’s Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services.

Oliver and Robinson explained to commissioners that though the vehicles would be ordered now, the county will not receive them for up to two years, due to manufacturing delays brought about by the pandemic.

“Obviously there’s supply chain issues everywhere, but certainly in the emergency services vehicle area,” Robinson said.

The chief said these ambulances would be the start of a new, completely county-owned fleet for the department. The new fire/EMS department is meant to bring together Carroll’s community fire companies under a county-administered department with paid staff.

The county’s plan will allow for 15 medic units to provide 24-hour staffing seven days a week and at least one fire apparatus driver at all but the Harney Volunteer Fire Company in Taneytown, which will receive no new staffing, as it has no ambulances and a low call volume.

“We will be replacing the volunteer ambulances to allow consistency with all the units in the county, which is advantageous for maintenance and all the other things that come with that,” Robinson said.

Ordering the vehicles now allows the county to realize significant cost savings, Robinson said. The manufacturer implemented a 7% price increase for ambulances as of Dec. 1, but the county sent a letter of intent to purchase to lock in the lower price before that time, he said.

The county will save about $26,000 per ambulance, or $104,000 total.

District 1 Commissioner Joe Vigliotti asked county staff if it would be advantageous to purchase more ambulances now in order to take advantage of the cost savings. Staff replied that the county had originally intended to purchase two but was able to purchase four due to the cost savings.

Robinson said there are 22 ambulances now in the fleet, and that number would be reduced to 19, which includes several reserve ambulances that can be used when primary vehicles are out for maintenance.

District 4 Commissioner Michael R. Guerin asked where the four new ambulances would be used, once they arrive. Robinson said that would be determined later, adding that his plans are to staff the Westminster, Sykesville, and Taneytown departments by June 1, followed by the Manchester, Reese, and Mount Airy departments after July 1.

Staff is now analyzing vehicle needs for each department and determining mileage on current vehicles, he added. He said one of the new vehicles would likely be used to replace one of the current reserve ambulances and another new vehicle would likely go to the Westminster department.

The typical life cycle of a county ambulance is about five to seven years, Robinson said. It varies because the county has both rural and urban areas, which affect ambulance usage differently.

©2022 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Special Delivery Alan M. Petrillo

The Pike Township (IN) Fire Department, an agency that runs nearly 12,000 emergency medical services calls a year, chose PL Custom Body and Equipment Company to build the fourth ambulance for its fleet.

Chief Chris Tragesser says the department wants to provide the best quality apparatus and equipment for its staff. “We wanted to give them the best quality emergency room on wheels from which to operate,” Tragesser says. “We had purchased three PL Custom Type 3 ambulances in 2020 and were so pleased with them that we purchased our fourth PL Custom but made some minor tweaks to the rig.”

Chad Newsome, PL Custom’s national sales manager, points out the new Pike Township Type 3 is on a Ford E-450 chassis and cab with seating for two paramedics/emergency medical technicians (EMTs). He says the rig’s overall length is 22 feet 11 inches, overall height is 8 feet 11 inches, and width is 8 feet 3 inches. “The ambulance has our 170-inch Medallion body with 72 inches of headroom that features a Medic in Mind interior configuration,” Newsome observes.

Dean Martin, owner of Crossroads Ambulance Sales & Service Inc., who sold the rig to Pike Township, says that unlike the first three PL Custom Type 3s the department purchased, this rig has the Medic in Mind curbside configuration. “The department determined that the need to transport a second patient was not as important as having the paramedic/EMS in a seated, belted position but still able to work on a patient and have critical supplies in easy reach,” Martin points out.

Martin says PL Custom also widened the CPR seat and angled the outside corners of the cabinets to 45 degrees to match the overhead cabinets. “That allows a medic trying to start an IV or perform another type of function the latitude to move in a forward or back direction,” he says. “It opens up the work area for the medic and is not as confining.” He adds that the ambulance has sliding and vertical hinged cabinets that meet or exceed new KKK-A-1822 and Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CASS) requirements for testing.

Unique to this rig, Martin says, is a long narrow compartment under the squad bench that can be accessed from either inside or outside the vehicle. “It gives the staff the ability to grab a pediatric backboard or soft splints from under the squad bench without going inside the vehicle,” he says. “Also, under that access door, the rig’s exhaust is recessed above the frame so it can be easily connected to the station’s exhaust hose.”

Mike Goodrich, Pike Township Fire’s EMS chief, says the rig has a Stryker Power-LOAD system and PowerPRO cot that help to prevent back injuries among the staff. “We took PL Custom’s suggestions on lighting and went with the two remote-controlled Golight LED pod mounting spotlights at the front corners of the vehicle’s module to better enable the crew to see addresses, TecNiq LED warning, and flood and scene lights,” he says. He adds that when the vehicle is in park, the exterior lighting can be dimmed and the scene lighting can be angled to the rear when backing up to allow the driver to see the rear wheels and the pivot point of the vehicle.

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