The Fannin County Board of Commissioners voted to have liquid springs placed on the county’s most recently delivered ambulance for $12,800 in order to alleviate stretcher loading issues EMA employees are currently experiencing.
When ordering the ambulances, the county was unaware that the new models would sit significantly higher than models purchased in the past.
“Historically, when we bought our Fords, they sat up so high that we had to have air bags put under them so that when we load the stretcher and we open the back door of the ambulance, the ambulance would squat down so the stretcher would go in,” EMA Director Robert Graham said during a meeting of the board Tuesday, November 10. “When we moved to buying the Chevrolets, we no longer had to buy the air bags because the Chevrolets sat lower, and we were able to load the stretchers. The new ambulances sit up high, we’ve already received one ambulance, the new ambulances sit up higher. The chassis’s sitting quite a bit higher than the old ones. This is the new design. Nobody, not even the ambulance manufacturer was aware of it.”
Graham explained that due to this lack of knowledge, the EMA department did not specify that air bags of liquid springs needed to be added, however it has proven to be a necessity to add one or the other to the ambulance.
“Our medics are having a hard time,” Graham said. “Especially if they’re parked on any kind of a slope or the back end is up even a little bit. They’re having a hard time getting the stretcher up in the truck to be able to load it. I’m afraid we’re going to get some injuries from it eventually. Possibly an injured patient. Hopefully not an injured patient, but also hopefully not an injured employee.”
Adding air bags to the ambulance already delivered would cost $10,000, while adding liquid springs would cost $12,800.
“Our mechanic, after speaking to him, he recommended highly the liquid springs over the air bags because we have so much trouble with those air bags busting or valves sticking in it and things,” Graham said. “We had a lot of trouble with them when we did have them.”
The board unanimously voted to have liquid springs added to the currently delivered ambulance at this time.
It will be less expensive to add the liquid springs to the ambulance that has yet to be delivered at $11,300.
The board will have the option to approve or deny that purchase at a later date.