Driven with Care: LMC upgrades to new ambulance

Limestone Medical Center has acquired a new 2023 Chevrolet 3500 Duramax 6.6L Diesel ambulance, one of three ambulances that operate full-time in southern Limestone County.
According to Larry Price,  Limestone Medical Center chief executive officer, LMC sets annual goals to ensure optimal patient care. One such goal is maintaining a fleet of state-of-the-art ambulances.
"If you call 911, you want the vehicle to be able to roll when it needs to roll," Price said.
Due to the arrangement with Mexia EMS to help with coverage in both areas, this new ambulance will benefit not only Groesbeck and the surrounding rural communities but also Mexia, Price said.
LMC plans to replace ambulances every three to five years, with budget provisions for upgrades every two years, as exemplified by the heavily discounted 2023 ambulance. Price noted that a new ambulance can cost between $330,000 and $350,000, inclusive of essential items like cardiac monitors and stretchers, which are sold separately.
The new ambulance is a remount – the box from a 2015 ambulance with about 200,000 miles was refurbished and remounted onto a 2023 chassis, which had only 112 miles. Emergency Medical Services Director Shelton Chapman explained that this practice is common and can be done up to three times before the box requires replacement due to wear and tear.
COVID-19 caused delays in ambulance builds, resulting in their October 2022 order for a new ambulance being on a waitlist for over a year, Chapman said. The new ambulance is not scheduled to be received until October this year. Due to staff shortages during the pandemic, LMC now transfers patients further for care, including destinations like Dallas, Austin and Houston, significantly increasing ambulance mileage and necessitating more frequent replacements.
The new ambulance features the capability to alert newer model cars via the car's built-in GPS when activated, notifying them of an approaching ambulance and streamlining the process of yielding.
Regarding the ambulance selection process, Chapman said, "Like most fire departments and EMS in this region, we run the Frazers because they're very, very durable and competitively priced."
Price emphasized that, unlike areas such as Waco, where cheaper, van-like ambulances suffice, the rural roads in their region make such vehicles impractical.
They also highlighted the impact of idling hours on ambulance engines, as they must maintain onboard medications at specific temperatures, resulting in higher engine wear than indicated solely by mileage. Thus, an ambulance showing 150,000 miles on the odometer may equate to closer to 220,000 miles of engine wear.