By Jack Minch, Sun Staff
Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)
Copyright 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc.
LOWELL, Mass.- David Daly and Matt Libby sat in a back office talking about the shiny new ambulance on the other side of the door yesterday.
It’s got all the bells and whistles, so to speak.
There’s a DVD player to distract pediatric patients, a blanket warmer for geriatric patients and a GPS system for the driver. An aerodynamic design has emergency lights built into the roof to reduce drag. The Fiberglas roof is reinforced with steel lining, instead of wood, to improve safety in an accident.
Daly and Libby are using the ambulance as a marketing tool for their startup, PrideSTAR EMS, which is scheduled to begin operations next Monday.
“This is a business opportunity that’s been considered the last four years and came to fruition in the last eight or 10 months,” Daly said.
Daly, who is principal for Daly Group and Daly General Contracting, is financing the company, which is headquartered at 9 West Adams St. He was a longtime employee at Trinity EMS working as an emergency medical technician, paramedic and operations supervisor.
Libby is operations director for the new company and also once worked for Trinity as a paramedic. His resume includes stops with Worcester EMS, Rural Metro in Orlando, Fla., and Woods Ambulance in Gardner.
Daly has a five-year plan with what he called a “significant” investment in the company. The Ford ambulance customized in Canada cost $60,000 alone before medical equipment was installed.
The time is right for small ambulance companies to open, Daly and Libby said. The industry has been consolidating for a number of years, but recently smaller companies have been popping up around the country, Libby said.
As the population ages, there is a growing need for ambulance services, Daly said. The men say they want to work with nursing homes transporting patients between hospitals.
Daly and Libby are developing an injury prevention program in the same way fire service providers developed fire prevention program in the past. They are willing to look at homes to show residents such as the elderly how they can avoid injuries.
PrideSTAR doesn’t want to take on Trinity EMS head-on, so it plans to provide custom service that is more difficult for larger companies.
“Trinity has done a great job, and they have been here for awhile,” Daly said. “Matt and I have both worked for them, and we have nothing but good things to say about them. We’re providing an outlet for other people, a little niche, we’re not looking to do a million calls a day here, we’re looking to grow responsibly.”
Daly in fact called John Chemaly, owner of Trinity, to let him know he was opening the new company.
Chemaly yesterday said it will be a tough go for the startup because his company is so well established.
“Trinity pretty much has the market here cornered, but I think competition keeps everybody on their toes, I think competition is good,” Chemaly said.
PrideSTAR is hosting an open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Its new ambulance will be on-site.
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