By Nicole Zappone
The Chronicle
LEBANON, Conn. — The Lebanon Volunteer Fire Department has much to celebrate this year with the addition of a new ambulance, called the A606, which has been placed into service to enhance emergency response capabilities to better serve the community.
With the new ambulance, the department will have two ambulances in its fleet, ensuring faster response times and uninterrupted coverage.
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“This is the first time we ever had two ambulances,” Chief Jay Schall said.
In the department, whenever they got a new vehicle, they would take the equipment from one to another, but this was not the case. Instead, the department had to add equipment to the new ambulance.
Since the new ambulance was put into service on November 1, 2025, the department has had eight concurrent calls in which both ambulances responded with a full crew.
The A606 was built on a Ford F550 4x4 Life Line Superline chassis. The ambulance has Four Wheel Drive and is able to drive on any type of road conditions.
While the A606 was out of service for a week while new equipment was being installed, the department continued responding to medical calls with the A506.
At another time, when A506 was out of service for five days for repairs, the new A606 continued responding to calls.
“One of the reasons we got the second ambulance was because we did almost 100 concurrent calls last year,” Schall said.
Concurrent calls are when the department receives multiple calls at the same time.
“With Lebanon only having one ambulance, it would require us to bring in mutual aid for those other calls,” Schall said. “Now we cover at least two calls at the same time. If we have three or four, we still have to call mutual aid.”
However, with the two ambulances, they will have to call for mutual aid fewer times.
“Right now, we only have the one in town, because one of our mutual aid partners is down an ambulance, and they only have one, which is what we used to be like with only one,” Schall said.
When Schall joined the department in 2013, he was dead set against having a second ambulance.
“Two ambulances means you have to get the second one out,” Schall said. “Lebanon does such a wonderful job getting the first ambulance out and responding to calls.”
Introducing a second ambulance, Schall said, there is an expectation of getting that one out the door with a full staff.
“So far, so good, and we have been getting it out,” Schall said. “There may be times when we don’t get it out. For the last two years, in 2024 and 2025, we didn’t miss a single call.”
Schall said that with only two ambulances, they may not be able to get both out due to staffing issues, as all fire departments across the state struggle to recruit volunteers.
A story that Schall recalled was during a late-night call when a pack of deer ran across the road around three in the morning.
“I was driving the ambulance to a call, lights and sirens, and a pack of deer came running across the road, and I almost walloped them in the ambulance,” Schall said. “That’s when it occurred to me, at this point, I was the fire chief, I was like, ‘we need another ambulance. If I or someone wrecks this ambulance, we have nothing.’”
Both ambulances are equipped with brush guards to help protect against animals, and Schall said it was money well spent.
When it comes to funding in the department, Schall said the ambulance funds half of the operating budget.
“The taxpayers in this town only fund half of the operation and the other half is through revenue gained from transporting people,” Schall said.
This was why the department got the second ambulance: to continue building that revenue.
“Our budget is already so slim, and we don’t get as much as we need, but we make it work,” Schall said. “We are hoping to increase our revenue slightly, because we are now capturing those concurrent calls. It’s an insurance policy, and it’s an opportunity for us to get more revenue out of transport.”
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