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Chase County keeps older ambulance as backup while new unit goes into service
Summary
Chase County officials discussed options for an older ambulance — keeping it as a reserve, insuring and tagging it, or auctioning it — after a new ambulance entered service Jan. 31 and new heart monitors were deployed.
Chase County Commissioners heard an update Feb. 10 from EMS staff about a newly delivered ambulance and a plan for an older unit taken out of regular service.
EMS staff said the county’s new ambulance was received Jan. 31 and “officially went into service in February.” The department also deployed new heart monitors purchased with Patterson Family Grama Foundation funding, which staff said will “make a difference in our patient care.”
Officials discussed three options for the retired ambulance: sell it at auction (staff mentioned online marketplace Purple Wave), keep it as an unlicensed reserve the county could return to service quickly, or maintain it as a licensed vehicle with insurance. EMS staff said the vehicle could be re-licensed within about 24 hours if needed and said routine start-and-check maintenance would keep it operational while idle.
The county discussed the cost of keeping the vehicle insured: staff identified an insurance premium of $1,285 a year. Mileage figures noted in the meeting were about 73,073 on the older retired unit and 62,026 miles on a 2013 ambulance currently in the fleet. The cost of the newest ambulance was described as “shy of $252,000,” and a vendor told the county an approximate 19‑month lead time for a new build if they were to order another unit.
No formal vote was taken on disposition; commissioners directed staff to retain the older ambulance for several months and revisit the disposition in May or June ahead of budget discussions.
Officials also discussed operating plans for the fleet: the new unit carries a five‑year/60,000‑mile warranty and staff said they may rotate vehicles or assign the older unit to daytime shifts once the new vehicle’s kinks are worked out.
Plans and timing for any auction, sale price estimates, or formal disposal steps were not decided at the meeting.
