Kearney Fire Receives New Ambulance
/The Kearney Fire & Rescue Protection District ordered two new ambulances from American Emergency Vehicles in January, 2022. The ordering process took over two years, and it received the first vehicle, a Ford F-550 Traumahawk, in January. It replaces one of the district’s current ambulances that has been in service since 2013.
When the COVID pandemic started to diminish, the fire department started work to get the ambulances designed and ordered. Chief Kevin Pratt could not believe the supply chain issues that would delay the delivery of the equipment.
“We never could have imagined the supply chain issues that would be coming,” said Chief Pratt. “Generally speaking, you could have previously received an ambulance in 6-10 months. These two units were ordered in January of 2022, so 26 months to receive the first unit.”
Chief Pratt says the fire department spent many hours strategically designing the new ambulances to maximize efficient patient care and to meet the latest safety standards for patients and crew.
A small committee of employees took suggestions from fire and rescue personnel. They then met with American Emergency Vehicles to layout the design of the patient compartment and determine how to best store equipment for utilization while treating patients.
“The EMT's and Paramedics that work in that space had a tremendous amount of input on the design. These units were also designed with the possibility of remounting the body on a new chassis in the future,” remarked Pratt.
The standards for ground ambulances are reviewed and updated every few years. Chief Pratt said that improvements in the standards can range from changes in emergency lighting and reflective marking requirements to upgraded patient and crew restraint systems to where and how particular pieces of equipment should be mounted.
Additionally, manufacturing standards take into consideration accident and rollover protections. The chassis is also required to meet current emission standards.
The total cost per unit was $320,000, and the fire department received a $47,000 per unit grant for the cot and loading/securing system.
“As an organization, we want to be able to continue to provide the highest quality emergency medical care and transport to our citizens and visitors by continually updating our equipment to stay current with the latest medical technology,” Pratt said.
In the last three years Kearney Fire & Rescue ran over 1300 EMS related calls annually and transported approximately 1000 patients each year. The second ambulance is expected to arrive in Kearney in late May or early June.
KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story
