MUSKOGEE, Okla. — An ambulance shortage is causing a critical problem in some local communities.
It’s causing some agencies to use ambulances years longer than intended.
“We try to move our front line trucks to the back line at 150,000 miles,” said Laurel Haven.“Right now, we’re have to go to 250,000.”
Laurel Havens, Executive Director at Muskogee County EMS, said they don’t want to put these high mile ambulances on the road but because of a shortage,he has no choice.
“It takes around average a year and a half to get some of these chassis," said Havens. "Once they arrive at the manufacturer the ambulance to build the box there’s a back log of them, so that’s what’s taking close to two years."
Havens said they have six chassis sitting in Georgia right now, ordered more than a year ago. He said it’ll be months before the work will start to outfit the whole ambulance.
“By the time we get those, we’ll probably need to replace five more,” said Havens.
Havens said keeping these vehicles on the road longer can cause an issue when they’re transporting patients in an emergency.
“It’s really scary,” said Havens. “You have somebody whose life is in the balance and you’re trying to get them to the hospital and you break down on the side of the road. That’s scary.”
Over at EMSA, the largest ambulance service in the state, Adam Paluka said they dealt with the issue early in the pandemic.
“There’s no doubt that there were shortages related to ambulance chassis during the early days of COVID, but right now in September 2023, EMSA is doing fine when it comes to the availability of ambulance chassis,” said Adam Paluka, Chief Public Affairs Officer for EMSA.
Paluka said their preventative maintenance on site has helped them stay ahead.
“We do have to plan far, far ahead of time when we’re ordering those new ambulances and anticipating their deliveries,” said Paluka.
For even smaller, more rural departments, Havens said those agencies are buying Muskogee’s old equipment with 300,000 plus miles on it.
“We just sold 10 of our old fleet and ambulance services were buying those to put on their front line,” said Havens.
Even if new ambulances were readily available, Havens said inflation has made it nearly impossible for some agencies to keep up.
“Ambulances have tripled in price but the reimbursement model hasn’t changed at all,” said Havens.
He’s hoping to see a change in the reimbursement model, and for the manufacturers to get back on track.
Havens said House Bill 1967 should be introduced this legislative session. It would be a one cent sales tax voted on county by county. It could help fund these EMS services across the state.
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