Luck, a donation and trip to Virginia bring a new ambulance to Lincoln

After a couple of lucky breaks, the Lincoln Volunteer Ambulance was recently able to bring home a new ambulance to serve Lincoln.

"We found it on one of our EMS sites on Facebook – a volunteer ambulance department out of Chesterfield, Va. was selling it," LVA president Aaron Birkholz said of the "new" ambulance, a 2006 model on a Chevy C4500 frame with only 65,000 miles on the odometer.

The LVA had been saving for a new ambulance for years and had around $47,000 in savings at the time, Birkholz said. They bid on and acquired the Chesterfield ambulance for just $35,000, an amount largely covered by an anonymous $30,000 donation received in January.

"When I put in the bid for the new ambulance, we hadn't even gotten that anonymous donation, we were just going to go off of what we had," said Birkholz. "Then that $30,000 donation came in and we were very happy."

There were several bidders on the ambulance, and Birkholz admits he was surprised when the LVA's bid proved the winner.

"I don't know if their bids were close to mine or matching mine or what was going on – it could be the sob story that I gave him with my bid. I never did ask," he said. "I told him that we're a small volunteer ambulance and we've been putting in for grants for years, and every year we get turned down, and we're self-funded and cover 2,600 square miles and we desperately need a running ambulance. All of the sudden a month later I got a congratulations letter."

Once the LVA won their bid for the ambulance, they had to decide how to transport the vehicle, located in Virginia, back to Montana

They first looked into having it shipped, but turned to a different plan upon learning the cost.

"I was going to have it shipped back, but the cheapest bid I could find was $8500 to $10,000," said Birkholz.

Instead, Birkholz and EMT Jon Frisbee flew to Virginia and drove the ambulance the 2,680 miles between Chesterfield and Lincoln in two days, spending about $2200 total on flights, fuel, food and lodging along the way.

"We started driving last Saturday afternoon and were back here

Monday evening," he said.

The LVA last received a new ambulance via a Montana Department of Transportation grant in 2012 – a $140,000 vehicle that has had multiple issues and been in the shop for repairs a total of twenty-two times, costing the LVA between $8000 and $10,000 so far.

"I'd like to get rid of that, but I can't justify getting rid of something that only has 45,000 miles on it," said Birkholz.

The LVA's other, older ambulance is still in good working order, but with high mileage.

"We've had that ambulance since we got it brand new in 2002. It's been a really good ambulance," he said. "It can still be used...it's just at a point where it has 160,000 miles on it, which is OK for a diesel, but it's at the point where the maintenance is starting to toll up, so it's time to upgrade."

Despite being more than ten years old, the new ambulance has low mileage and certain bells and whistles, including a self-loader for oxygen tanks.

"It's a very upgraded ambulance. It has a lot of features that are new to us...just different perks, things that we could never afford to put on our ambulance."

Although it's only a two-wheel drive, the new vehicle weighs in at 16,000 pounds and features automatic tire chains. With new snow tires, Birkholz is confident it can handle the conditions here in Montana.

The LVA cannot afford to keep three ambulances stocked, insured and in working order, so they plan to sell the 2002-model ambulance and put the funds toward required upgrades on the two newer models. Birkholz said they can also look to the SIREN Act grant program included in the 2018 Farm Bill to seek funding for the purchase of new cots and auto loaders. They had originally considered applying for a grant through that program to buy a new ambulance.

Thanks to the anonymous donor, the LVA has ample funds to get the new ambulance out on the road.

"We have to change the decals out, we have to get a big grill guard on it and we just had winter tires put on it," said Birkholz, who expects the new vehicle to be in service within two weeks. He said he checked with the state and found they can use it to respond to calls even if it doesn't bear the LVA livery by then. "If people see a Manchester ambulance running through town, that's us."