By Matt Smith
Cleburne Times-Review, Texas
CLEBURNE, Texas — CareFlite recently ordered 20 new ground ambulances, CareFlite CEO Jim Swartz announced.
The ambulances cost about $2.7 million, not including the cost of medical equipment. Outfitting each ambulance costs about $60,000 per unit, Swartz said.
“We need the best equipment for out in the field,” Swartz said. “So we have the hydraulic gurneys and other state-of-the-art equipment.”
The ambulances are scheduled for delivery between September and December.
CareFlite employs about 80 ambulances now. The new additions will replace older ambulances in some cases and add to the fleet in others.
Growth prompted the purchase, Swartz said.
“We began servicing Kauffman and Ellis counties on March 1 after the prior provider withdrew,” Swartz said. “So this helps us upgrade and add to our system. Although the purchase happened in part because of expansion of our coverage area, the new ambulances will be used across our 911 coverage area including Johnson County.”
CareFlite, which was established in 1979, also offers helicopter service to more than 100 counties within a 150-mile radius of the Metroplex. Their fleet includes nine helicopters including four new Bell 407GXs and one new Bell 429.
CareFlite also offers a fixed-wing air ambulance that operates within a 500 mile radius of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
CareFlite has serviced Johnson County for about a decade and recently entered into a new contract to continue that service for five years with three one-year options. The Johnson County Commissioners Court formed a committee to determine the county’s ambulance service needs and to recommend a provider. Several ambulance providers requested to be included in the survey, but CareFlite ultimately won the committee’s recommendation and the commissioner’s subsequent approval.
“I think CareFlite does an outstanding job and that they always have,” Johnson County Commissioner Rick Bailey said. “I think the addition of more ambulances, newer ambulances, to their fleet benefits Johnson County and all the areas they serve. They may not have all of those ambulances here at any one time. But if here or one of the other counties they serve something major happens like a tornado or some other emergency, well the more ambulances and equipment they have the better because that helps them to better pool their resources as needed and operate more effectively.
“CareFlite has already gone to our P-25 radio system to be compatible with other first responders in the county and I’m confident that, as our county grows, CareFlite is going to step up and grow with us.”
Cleburne Assistant Fire Chief Randy Jenkins also praised CareFlite’s move to expand.
“We deal with CareFlite all the time on traffic accidents and other injury calls,” Jenkins said. “So I would definitely say that additional ambulances and newer equipment are always something we welcome in our community, all the better to help the Cleburne Fire Department and CareFlite carry out our mission of getting their as fast as possible and providing the best service.”
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©2015 the Cleburne Times-Review (Cleburne, Texas)