Coffee County EMS warns aging ambulance fleet, long chassis lead times will delay replacements

The director of Coffee County Emergency Medical Services told the board May 21 that call volume is roughly flat compared with last year but that an aging ambulance fleet and long replacement lead times are creating operational and procurement headaches.

"Last month we ran 926 calls, which puts our year‑to‑date total at about 3,500," the director said, adding the service was averaging about 33 calls a day and projected roughly 10,695 calls for the year if current pace continues, compared with 10,976 the previous year. The figures are a projection based on year‑to‑date pace, the director said.

Why it matters: the director said vehicles with high mileage are becoming maintenance liabilities and that the vendor who won the recent ambulance bid sent a letter saying Chevrolet is no longer building the chassis commonly used for ambulances. "Chevrolet has moved away from gasoline chassis in that 3500 series," the director said, and the board discussed switching bid specifications to a Ford F‑350 gasoline chassis. The director added, "The fuel is so much cheaper, and you don't have the DEF fluid to deal with," and said the change should not affect the unit price; the director will keep the vendor letter in procurement files in case the state auditor asks for documentation.

Board discussion focused on procurement options. The director described remounting—reusing an existing patient-care box on a new chassis—as one option but warned that many remounted units are sold quickly in the private market. He also discussed using competitively awarded cooperative contracts (often called buy boards or Sourcewell) to speed purchases, but noted those vehicles can be specific configurations and may not cover one‑off remounts. The director said the typical lead time on a new order remains about 18 months.

Operational impacts cited included recent costly repairs (an injector pump failure that required replacing multiple injectors) and several trucks with more than 200,000 miles that are increasingly expensive to maintain. To address staffing pressures, the director said all AMT slots were filled and that two additional medics are needed to staff five units without pulling captains into frontline shifts; two personnel remain out on medical leave, one expected to return after a "work‑hardening" rehabilitation program in mid‑June.

Next steps: the director said he will follow up with county purchasing staff (Mariana) about procurement pathways and document vendor communications for auditors. The board will revisit any finalized procurement or mutual‑aid dispatch agreements at the next meeting.

The report did not include a final procurement decision and no purchase was authorized during the meeting.