The Lebanon Fire District announced the addition of two new medic units to its apparatus fleet purchased from Braun Northwest. Each unit was paid for out of the standard annual operating budget.
Both medic units were built on 2023 Ford F450 4×4 ambulance diesel chassis and took approximately two years from order date to delivery to build. One of the new units was completed a year earlier than scheduled.
“To best serve our community, we need to have equipment in good repair and working order,” Fire Chief Joseph Rodondi said. “Between the skills of our personnel and the newest ambulance technology, our customers will be able to receive the highest emergency medical services we can provide.”
Before being placed into service, each medic unit will be outfitted with equipment, logos and badges, and all personnel will receive training on its operation. The medic units will replace aging apparatus that have grown unreliable and costly to repair.
LFD reported that with more than 70% of its annual call volume being emergency medical service calls, the wear and tear on ambulances far exceeds that of other firefighting apparatus. Each unit being replaced has over 300,000 miles on the chassis, and even more on the patient compartments. Prior to these full replacements, the LFD had replaced medic units with “remounted” models, meaning the original patient compartments were put onto new vehicle chassis, extending their usability to over 20 years of service.