Daily Independent (Ashland, KY)

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September 25, 2012

Former Boyd EMS vehicle donated for police duty

Kenneth Hart The Independent

ASHLAND — The Ashland Police Department has a new addition to its vehicle fleet.

And, it didn’t cost the city a cent.

Boyd County Emergency Medical Services recently donated one of its old ambulances, a 2003 International, to the APD, where it will be used for a variety of purposes, according to the department’s leaders.

The vehicle is one of the first purchased by Boyd EMS when it switched from van- to medium-duty truck-based ambulances. It and one other identical vehicle recently became surplus when the service was able to take delivery of two new Freightliner ambulances much earlier than anticipated due to another agency canceling its order, Boyd EMS Director Tom Adams said.

The EMS decided to donate one of the vehicles to the city and one to the county, Adams said. The APD did the legwork and was able to demonstrate a need for it, so the city opted to let the department have it, he said.

The county is using its former ambulance in the road department as a large-tool transport vehicle, Adams said.

The APD’s vehicle has 166,000 miles on it. However, according to Adams, it’s still very much mechanically sound. And, given the fact the police department won’t be using it every day, like the ambulance service did, the truck should have plenty of life left in it, he said.

The vehicle didn’t require a lot of work to make it ready for police duty, especially since most of the ambulance equipment had been removed when the APD got it, Maj. Todd Kelley said. The ambulance markings were removed and a new blue-and-yellow graphics scheme was applied, and the red lenses in the truck’s emergency lights were swapped out for blue ones, he said.

Kelley said the vehicle has been out on two calls already. He said it would myriad uses for the department, including as mobile command post, an evidence intake and processing center at crime scenes, a “rehab” vehicle where officers working crime and/or accident scenes can go to escape from the heat or cold and a transporter for the department’s Special Response Team.

According to APD Chief Rob Ratliff, one of the calls on which the vehicle was used was for warrant service, and it required the SRT. All 11 members of the team and their gear were able to fit inside it, he said. It made for a much more orderly and efficient response than having to send a convoy of cruisers to the scene, he said.

“We’ll get a lot of use out of (the vehicle),” Ratliff said. “We’re glad to have it and we really appreciate Boyd EMS donating it to us.”

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or

(606) 326-2654.

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