Wayne County approves purchase of one ambulance after officials cite repeated vehicle failures

The Wayne County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved buying one new ambulance after EMS staff told the commission the county’s fleet has suffered repeated, recent failures that left the county temporarily without any frontline ambulances.

Patrick Parsons, an EMS staff member who presented a written fleet study during a public hearing, told commissioners the county “technically have 6 trucks in our fleet” but that three are currently out of service with what he called “catastrophic failures,” including a transmission replacement costing roughly $12,000. Parsons said the county was down to two trucks twice in April and “twice today went to status 0” — meaning no ambulances were available in the county — and that crews had been forced to turn down more than 50 runs assigned to a revenue ambulance because other vehicles were unavailable.

The commission’s decision followed extended discussion about fleet age, replacement schedules and financing. Parsons cited national EMS guidance that frontline ambulances should be retired after about seven years or roughly 200,000 miles and noted Wayne County’s fleet includes multiple vehicles more than 10 years old and several with odometer readings well above those thresholds.

County administrator Brody told commissioners the county does have money set aside for one truck from SPLOST 4 but that SPLOST 5 funds are not yet available and the SPLOST 4 allocation is already committed to other projects. Brody said the practical path was to pay from the county’s general LOST (local option sales tax) fund now and try to replace that funding from SPLOST 5 later if receipts allow. He warned that dipping into the LOST balance would trigger a board accounting requirement if the balance drops below the county’s internal cushion (about $7 million), but said the board could proceed if it accepted that condition.

Commissioners debated alternatives including buying two trucks now, buying one and repairing existing vehicles, leasing or renting temporary coverage, and asking regional partners for short-term assistance. Parsons said two additional ambulances are available from a builder who had a canceled order; those trucks were quoted at $348,800 each, plus autoloader cots and other equipment that raise each vehicle’s total closer to $442,200. Parsons recommended buying two if the county could, but told the board the opportunity to buy the extra trucks might be brief.

After discussion, a commissioner moved to purchase one ambulance for approximately $421,247.20 and to fund the purchase from the LOST (general fund) with the hope SPLOST 5 could reimburse or cover future purchases. A second was recorded and the motion passed; commissioners voting in favor recorded their approval during roll call.

The board asked staff to prioritize getting the three out-of-service ambulances back into service while the new vehicle is delivered, and to include a formal five-year vehicle replacement plan in next year’s budget to avoid midyear shortages in the future.

Delivery estimates given during the meeting put two manufacturer-available trucks at late December and mid-January, and an already-authorized chassis-based truck at February. Parsons said supply-chain and weather delays (he referenced a hurricane affecting production) had pushed earlier delivery estimates beyond the originally expected dates.

The vote: the commission approved the purchase of one ambulance; the motion included a funding note that the cost would come from the LOST/general fund immediately with a goal of using SPLOST 5 proceeds later if possible. The board also directed staff to pursue repairs for the out-of-service units and to return a replacement schedule to the commission as part of next year’s budget materials.

Parsons summed up the operational risk in his final remarks: “We’re running on three trucks right now. Twice in the month of April, we have been down to two trucks because of trucks constantly breaking down,” and said an ongoing program of scheduled replacement is needed to avoid similar shortfalls.