By EMS1 Staff
DALLAS, Texas — As summer temperatures rise, more than half of the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department’s front-line ambulances are experiencing failing air conditioning units.
NBCDFW 5 reported that the 40 ambulances, half the fleet, and 10 of 21 newly purchased 2018 ambulances that recently arrived at the department are sitting idle with air conditioning issues.
Mechanics are working to figure out how to fix the problem.
“We are presently experiencing a higher-than-normal A/C fail rate on the newer series ambulances,” a DFR official wrote in an email.
A statement released by the DFR said that “temperatures in the rear compartments have been reported as reaching as high as the 80s during the afternoon hours, making it a real challenge for both patient and first responder in the midst of the Texas heat.”
The department has pulled three of the 40 ambulances off the street, but the other 37 still respond to calls despite air conditioning challenges.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever had to do CPR with sweat drooping from your eyes, but it can be very brutal,” Sherrie Wilson, former Dallas firefighter and paramedic, said.
DFR plans to refuse the final delivery of 11 2018 models until “a solution is found and either a recall or a retro fit is performed on the other units,” according to an internal email.