IF Fire Department asking for more ambulances

The Idaho Falls Fire Department will be presenting the city council with an emergency request Thursday night. It is asking for approval to purchase two new ambulances.

The fire department believes it can convince the council to waive certain conditions in order to buy these new ambulances immediately since emergency medical calls are coming in now more than ever.

An ambulance order can take up to one full year to deliver therefore the fire department is also requesting to receive the new ambulances within 30 days.

“Because of our call volume and keeping up our fleet as far as the maintenance issue, we need two ambulances right now. We can’t wait almost an entire year,” said Idaho Falls Fire Cheif Dave Hanneman.

The Idaho Falls Fire Department currently has ten ambulances in its fleet. However on the busiest of days, even 10 vehicles can’t cover the range needed to get people medical attention.

“Not a day goes by without us running out of our primary ambulances, and we have to have our engine crews jump into a reserve ambulance,” said chief Hanneman.

They are hoping City Council will waive the normal Idaho code purchasing requirement under the grounds of emergency need.

A new ambulance costs roughly $136,000. In total, the Idaho Falls Fire Department will spend about $273,000 in buying the two new ambulances they need. The money for the emergency vehicles will come from their M.E.R.F., which stands for “Municipal Equipment Replacement Fund”.

“We have the funding for this in our ambulance fund, we’re not asking Council to add anything more into the budget,” said Chief Hanneman.

Chief Hanneman mentioned with the boat accident on the river this past Tuesday, the fire department sent three ambulances and three engines to the scene. That one call took almost half of their primary response team.

This plan will help the department maintain its ability to fight fires as well as provide medical attention.