GASTONIA, N.C. — A massive safety recall, which has recently expanded to more than 63 million vehicles in the United States, is also forcing ambulances off the road due to faulty airbags.
WCNC.com reported that Mecklenburg EMS said 8 of its 70 vans are out of commission. Gaston County EMS is also affected with two of its ambulances off the road. Takata issued the recall due to faulty airbags on both the driver and passenger sides with potential to rupture and injure drivers.
“Upon thorough review of the facts, MEDIC leadership made the decision to immediately remove all eight Dodge Sprinters from the system’s active fleet in the best interest of employee safety,” MEDIC Deputy Director Jeff Keith said. “This reduces MEDIC’s ambulance fleet from 70 to 62 vehicles, which is still enough to meet the agency’s deployment schedule around the clock.”
EMS officials said they will work closely with the Gaston County Fleet Maintenance Division to ensure the safety of personnel.
There’s no timetable as to when the issue will be resolved.