VIDEO: In Gwinnett County, EMS first responders do a thorough inspection of each ambulance in their fleet every day. It’s protocol before responding to an emergency call.
Fire Chief Frederick Cephas said it’s critical to keep his medic units in top mechanical shape, and the time has come to replace a dozen of them before they break down.
“So, what we’re in the midst of doing is replacing these vehicles, and instead of replacing them with a brand-new vehicle, we instead are doing what we call a remounting process, and that’s taking the patient compartment and putting it on a brand-new chassis,” Cephas said.
The chief said a brand-new ambulance costs about $450,000. But his plan to remount the patient compartment on a new chassis instead is a savings of about $200,000 to taxpayers per unit.