New rescue truck arrives
The call came Thursday afternoon.
Two elderly people were trapped in their car with serious injuries – possibly broken legs – after an accident involving a school bus on Highway 8 left them needing extrication before ambulance crews could get them out and on to the hospital for more medical care.
Enter Warren County Emergency Medical Services – more specifically the rescue truck which carries the jaws of life which were used to free the trapped victims.
Although the current rescue truck did its job once again, its condition is far from OK. Often requiring a spray can of ether to get it started, and with no good way to store the variety of equipment it carries, the two victims on Highway 8 could have had a longer wait because of the unreliability of the vehicle.
But relief has arrived as Thursday was the first full day a new Warren County rescue truck spent in town, being delivered the day before. To compare the two would be like comparing day and night.
“It will make our rescues more efficient, safer and the crews will even be more confident because we now have the right tools for the job,” said George Roberts, EMS director. Roberts says the new 2001 Freightliner medium-weight truck and custom-designed box are a vast improvement over the light-weight, worn-out 350 – which used to be an old ambulance which was taken out of service after exceeding mechanical service limits.
Costing just under $138,000, the Excellance rescue truck now joins two new Excellance ambulances. Roberts says the county got an excellent deal on the high-quality vehicle, and an even better one on the ambulances which were largely paid for utilizing grant money.
Roberts said the rescue truck is also like the ambulances as the box is designed to allow equipment to be easily accessible from ground level, and separately stored. It can also be rebuilt time and again by the Excellance company, making its serviceability to Warren County extensive.
“They had one down at Excellance when we picked up ours which was 22 years old, and still in solid shape,” Roberts said.
Another nice feature of the new rescue truck is its on-board generator set where, with a turn of a key, it powers the many needs of the rescuers including two 3,000-watt lights mounted on an air-powered mast on the top of the truck. The lights can be turned and tilted in just about any direction imaginable, making night rescues that much more secure and safer for everyone concerned.
Previous to this, rescuers often placed vehicles in locations where the headlights were used for visibility, or flashlights were utilized as the only light sources.
Roberts said he expects the new rescue vehicle to begin duties in Warren County as early as the end of the week. Training will also be given to properly utilize the many advantages now available with the new equipment.