Ambulance maintenance costs continue to add up for Pulaski County Emergency Medical Services.
EMS Director Nikki Lowry told the county commissioners last week her department is working on an ambulance maintenance summary. “Our oldest truck is a 2009 Ford, and it’s got 170,000 miles on it,” she explained. “It is the one that is at D1 right now because there’s no get up and go. It’ll take a couple miles to get up to speed. So they’re looking at that.” She said that so far this year, that truck has racked up nearly $2,500 in maintenance costs, not including the current work.
Meanwhile, she says the county has spent over $4,600 on repairs for a 2012 Chevrolet truck with 150,000 miles, and the two 2013 Chevys aren’t faring much better. “One has 110,000 [miles], and that is the one that has the calipers, lock, brakes, rotors. It’s in at Allen’s right now, and that total, as of Friday, was $2,100. And then the other one has 140,000 [miles] and it’s got the power steering leak, and we’re at $3,300 right now on those.”
Lowry did point out that those figures included some preventative maintenance, as well as repair costs. She added that there have been periods when Pulaski County EMS could only accept emergent transfer requests, to ensure that an ambulance was available for emergency calls in the county.
Also during last week’s meeting, the Pulaski County Commissioners reappointed a couple members of the Pulaski Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees. Julie Girton will remain on the board through January of 2022, while Courtney Poor will serve through December of 2021.
