Oglethorpe County Emergency Medical Services recently received its new ambulance, which was to go online this week.
Med 4 is a Type 1 Trauma Hawk built by custom ambulance manufacturer American Emergency Vehicles in Jefferson, North Carolina. Equipped with grab rails, cot mounts and upholstery, the ambulance body is paired with a 2023 Ford F-350 truck chassis.
“Getting a new truck around the EMS station is like Christmas to the guys and the staff,” EMS Deputy Director Josh Robinson said. “They love it, can’t wait to run out of it.”
The ambulance box, the back area where patients are treated, is custom designed to the needs of the EMS, complete with an automatic step to enter the box, a refrigerator to keep certain medicines cool and an automated stretcher.
The outside of the ambulance is outfitted with a Ranch Hand bumper, which helps limit damage, particularly from deer.
“We try to equip (our ambulances) the best way that we can, the safest way that we can, the most cost-effective way we can. It’s a continuous process,” EMS Director Jason Lewis said. “I think we have a really healthy fleet of vehicles.”
The M4, which was certified by the state last week, was purchased for $188,000 with Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) money in 2021, but due to shortages and delays, the EMS couldn’t pick up the new ambulance until May 22.
Several Oglethorpe County employees, including Robinson, drove to North Carolina to inspect it and drive it back.
“We go through and we inspect it to make sure it was built to our specifications,” Robinson said. “We always find things (where) this should be over here, that should be there, and they fix those things. As we get new equipment, we’ll change a little bit here and there.”
Lewis said EMS typically tries to replace ambulances after they reach 160,000 miles. This usually means ambulances spend seven or eight years in service before being replaced.
As such, the county’s vehicle replacement plan calls for a new ambulance to enter rotation every other year. However, due to a backlog of orders, Robinson said ambulances will have to be used longer than usual.
“Med 3 is the next one to be replaced, and it already has 136,000 miles on it,” he said. “The replacement plan has shown that we get about 3,000 miles a month on, so it racks up miles pretty quickly. We’re already planning on putting another order in pretty soon and hopefully have another one in a few years.”
The EMS operates with three active ambulances and one in reserve. The three active ones are in a rotating cycle in which two are on duty 24 hours a day, while the third is off duty to prevent wear and tear.
The acquisition of M4 pushes M1 to the reserve spot.
“It’s just like when you get a new car, you just want to take care of it and make sure nothing happens to it,” said paramedic Dawn Scarborough, who will work out of the M4. “You don’t want anyone parking next to it and all that kind of stuff. It’s nice for the community to see that we are doing our best to take care of the equipment.”
Wyatt Meyer will be a senior at Clarke Central High School in Athens next year.