photo by: Eric Ayres

Wheeling Fire Chief Jim Blazier addresses members of the Finance Committee of Wheeling City Council this past week about the need for a new ambulance.

WHEELING — Emergency crews take pride in quick response times to service calls, but when it comes to waiting for a new ambulance for the department, the delay between purchase time and its actual arrival could linger on for years.

Officials in the city of Wheeling recently discussed the need to rotate a new ambulance into its fleet — an endeavor that could take more than two years to come to fruition, even if a purchase was approved today.

“It’s very disappointing that no matter what we order now, the current climate is two to three years for delivery of new fire trucks and ambulances, ever since COVID,” Wheeling Fire Chief Jim Blazier said. “I don’t know if it’s just an onslaught of orders because of available ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. But nevertheless, we generally try to look at — once an ambulance is about three years old and in frontline service — preparing to replace it.”

Municipalities across the country have received federal ARPA funds for pandemic relief in recent years, and purchase of emergency response equipment easily checks the box as an eligible expense under the U.S. Treasury Department’s strict guidelines.

With municipalities lining up to make new purchases of emergency medical service vehicles — along with post-pandemic supply chain issues causing additional delays with the delivery of everything from computer chips to large vehicle chassis, it’s not a good idea to wait until the fleet is in critical condition before thinking about ordering a new ambulance.

“We average about 20,000 miles a year on our ambulances, and that’s just in the city of Wheeling,” Blazier said. “I always like to refer to the miles on our vehicles like in dog years. It’s more than normal. According to our mechanic, one mile is equal to about three miles on a personal vehicle.”

As the city’s once-brimming pool of ARPA funds is reaching critical levels, city leaders have been in the process of prioritizing the final requests for spending these one-time federal pandemic relief monies. The estimated $350,000 purchase of a new ambulance for the fleet has raced to the top of the remaining proposals, as members of the Finance Committee of Council last week unanimously recommended the item for council’s consideration.

“There’s a rotation of ambulances,” Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron explained. “They’re on the road every day. They’re vehicles — they’re not going to last forever, obviously. The fire department and EMS service is one of our most valuable services. It directly impacts residents in need.”

Blazier noted that the Wheeling Fire Department currently has five ambulances in the fleet, three of which are considered frontline units. The other two are the oldest in the fleet with the most mileage.

“We use them as backups in case we are doing maintenance on the three frontline ones, and we have one that is pretty much dedicated to just taking it out and parking it at events,” Blazier said. “A number of events that we cover now require an ambulance to be on site. A lot of the things — the Nailers games — we used to just send an EMT to the game, now they require an ambulance to be there. The football games in the fall for the school systems that we cover require an ambulance. Some events that come to WesBanco Arena — bull riding, monster trucks, the Toughman competition — they all require an ambulance to be there.”

The high-mile ambulances are functional, but making them available at events that require them decreases the constant usage that frontline vehicles get.

“We can take an ambulance there and park it, then put the crew in there,” Blazier said. “And of course, that would be the one we would rotate out of the fleet if we were successful in getting a new ambulance.”

The oldest ambulance in Wheeling’s fleet is a 2005 model with more than 100,000 miles on it. When ambulances are rotated out of the fleet, they go to the city auction, officials explained.

“Construction people buy them and use them for vans … things of that nature,” Blazier said.

City officials said the frontline ambulances experience a lot of wear and tear. They idle a lot, and service the department around the clock. The department responds to at least 14 service calls every day on average.

“For total department-wide calls, we had 8,300-plus last year, and over 5,000 of them were EMS calls,” Blazier said, noting the frontline ambulances’ daily use. “They’re driven by different drivers every day, and they’re on the road 24 hours with stop-and-start driving. The doors are opened and shut and slammed … there’s just a lot of wear and tear on these vehicles. So in order to keep a frontline service vehicle that’s dependable enough to take care of our citizens, we’d like to do that rotation period every so many years.”

Members of Wheeling City Council are expected to consider the purchase of a new ambulance this summer, with expected delivery around 2025.