Emergency Services adds three ambulances to fleet 10/21/2009 7:28 PM
By HALEY HUGHES Staff writer
Aiken County Emergency Services will add three ambulances to its fleet in the coming weeks.
Two will replace aging ambulances, while the third will bring the fleet number up to 14 emergency response vehicles.
The new ambulances, purchased with roughly $350,000 in one-cent sales tax funds, were parked at County Council chambers Tuesday for Council members to inspect.
Emergency Medical Services staff climbed into the back of the ambulances ("boxes") and pointed out many modern features that some of the older vehicles in the County's fleet do not have.
"The boxes are bigger. They have LED lights, which are easier to see, and dry erase boards on the walls so the emergency medical technicians aren't searching for something to write on," said Assistant County Administrator Todd Glover. "This is a real step up for our fleet. It's a big upgrade for us."
Councilwoman LaWana McKenzie called the ambulances an "early Christmas present."
EMS Coordinator Harvey Jay said the ambulances aren't street ready yet because certain equipment such as dispatch radios still need to be installed.
"We are proud of them. We think they'll last us a long time," he said.
EMS Director Dominick Bianco said that in just two years, the system has grown more consistent and oftentimes has eight or more ambulances on the road on any given day. But, as the County has grown, so has the need for more ambulances.
Council approved several franchise agreements Tuesday allowing private ambulance services to operate in the County.
Jay said private ambulance services such as Regional Ambulance Service and SouthStar Ambulance work well with the County.
"Together, we make sure all areas have an ambulance in service," he said. "We check them off in meeting requirements like vehicle inspections, proof of insurance and employee certification. The biggest thing is it has helped us cut back on response time. The thing is to get an ambulance to a person as quickly as possible."
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Posted by: worried On: Saturday, October 31, 2009 9:43 AM
Comment Title: Aiken EMS
everybody i meet who plans on moving, i tell them to move out of aiken county or not even come to aiken because dialing 911 is a gamble. an ambulance 'might' show up if it doesnt break down coming to your house. aiken county ems is the biggest joke of all time. theyre complaining about medic shortages when they are the one's driving the medics away with their unbelievably low pay and ungodly amount of politics. thats funny because theyre are 4 or 5 medics sitting behind a desk barking orders and breathing down eveybody's necks and scratching their heads wondering what went wrong instead of trying to fix it. i wonder why aiken ems hasnt even come close to winning ems system of the year in 12 years hmmm.
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Posted by: On: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 4:15 PM
Comment Title: ems..
Regional Ambulance Service? Since when does Regional Ambulance Service have a contract to run with Aiken County..I believe that should say Palmetto Ambulance, South Star, and Capital City. I pity the day Regional Ambulance Service runs 911 calls in this county...you think it's bad now...just let one of them run a call!
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Posted by: On: Sunday, October 25, 2009 7:19 PM
Comment Title: more BS....
More consistent? Aiken County EMS has lost two thirds of their medics, trucks are falling apart as are the stations, there are staffing shortages on every shift & ambulances passing each other taking calls due to the internal confusion. County council hasn't a clue as to what's actually going on because they've chosen to belive the lies told to them & us. The current EMS system is a mess and two new trucks aren't going to come close to answering the problem.
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Posted by: On: Thursday, October 22, 2009 10:24 AM
Comment Title:
I agree if you can't staff the ambulance you already have, what the point in getting new ones.. You think that's gonna cause people to want to work just to ride around in a new truck? Staff what you have, pay your people a decent salary for trying to save the lives of the citizens of Aiken County. Stop all the taxi rides and services. It burns me up when you transport someone non-emergent for a cold.. and you ask, do you have anyone that can take you to the hospital... the answer is always no. before you leave there are 4 cars following you all the way there!
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Posted by: On: Thursday, October 22, 2009 9:35 AM
Comment Title: New Trucks? I don't think So
Yes the new ambulances may have been bought with 1c money but they are too little too late. If you look at the EMS fleet they should have bought 5 news one a year every year. ANd don't even look at the County fire truck and Hazmat unit. They are as old as the hills. This is a snow job by the media and management
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Posted by: On: Thursday, October 22, 2009 5:42 AM
Comment Title: Ems
Well you can buy as many buses you want too, but who is going to run them. They are no good without a crew. They should have just took that money and gave the crews you got a pay raise in the attempt to keep them. Just my opinion.
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Posted by: On: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 8:48 PM
Comment Title:
8 or more ambulances my behind. They still can't keep stations from being empty. And these new trucks are replacing which trucks, the ones with 300K+ miles on them. What a joke!
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