Robbinsville – Graham County’s Emergency Management Service has figured out a way to have a shift supervisor at each shift.
But there’s a rub: the shift supervisor needs to have a quick response vehicle to respond to emergencies, but the only vehicle available is a Ford F550 flatbed truck that – as interim EMS Director Brian Stevens put it – is neither quick, nor responsive. Stevens went before the Graham County Board of Commissioners at its Feb. 15 meeting for help finding a better solution.
Ideally, the shift supervisor would drive an ambulance, but there is a two-year backlog, he said.
The department could rent a vehicle from Enterprise at about $500 per month, but would still have to pay for the vehicle to be outfitted to necessary standards, which would be lost at the end of the lease cycle when the vehicle is turned in. Besides, $500 a month is a lot to pay for a vehicle that would be drive just 200-300 miles per week, he said.
A more economical solution, Stevens suggested, would be to buy a Ford Explorer – in the range of $44,500 – and have it outfitted. Even better, he suggested, is a late-model but used SUV with low mileage that can be purchased and outfitted for $42,500, with another $1,500 if a lock box is needed.
The board liked his idea about buying a used vehicle and approved it unanimously.
The F550 is a super heavy-duty truck provided by the N.C. Department of Emergency Management as a deployable resource if other areas in the state need it. It is large, slow and would be difficult to maneuver around highway crash sites.
An SUV or smaller pickup would be more nimble and fit the county’s budget.