Tekoa ambulance service saves on purchase of new vehicle

The ambulance at the right is new to the Tekoa Community Ambulance and was purchased in 2010. The ambulance on the left was purchased for the organization in 2009.

Tekoa’s independent ambulance service this fall has added a new ambulance which will help the staff of four EMTs and five drivers cover Tekoa and the surrounding area.

Addition of the ambulance this fall provides the Tekoa service with an updated fleet.

Tekoa Community Ambulance operates as a non-profit, private service that is independent of Tekoa’s fire department, said Jim Gordon, one of the four EMTs. That means the services operate without tax revenue.

Income from service fees and donations, usually memorial donations, are the lone revenue sources for the service.

Tekoa now has a 2009 and a 2011 ambulance. Both are four-wheel-drives with re-fitted boxes. The ambulances are finished out by Arrow Industries, in Rock Rapids, Iowa. The company specializes in rebuilding and outfitting used ambulance boxes.

Both of the boxes on the Tekoa ambulances are Road Rescue models.

Gordon explained their approach allows the Tekoa service to acquire ambulances at about half the cost of all new equipment. They now have approximately $140,000 invested in the two ambulances.

Tekoa orders the Chevrolet cab and chassis for the ambulances through Chipman & Taylor in Pullman. The Chevrolet HD 3500 chassis are shipped from the factory to Rock Rapids where the rebuilt ambulance boxes are installed and finish work is completed.

Gordon said they have made a point of ordering four-wheel-drive ambulances to serve the Tekoa area. However, they have saved money by opting for gas fuel systems instead of diesel, an option which costs in the $8,000 range.

The 2009 ambulance which was purchased last year was outfitted with a box off a 1994 ambulance which was acquired from Colfax. The new 2011 chassis was outfitted with a box which was acquired by Arrow and refitted.

Although the two ambulances were purchased a year apart, their model years are two years apart because this year’s chassis carried the 2011 designation, Gordon said. The new ambulance was driven back to Tekoa from Rock Rapids by volunteers after they received notice the ambulance was ready for delivery.

Gordon said they decided to purchase another ambulance after they received an offer for their 1998 Chevrolet ambulance, also a four-wheel-drive model, from the Garfield-Farmington Hospital District. That ambulance is now stationed in Farmington.

Although not part of the Tekoa fire department, the Tekoa ambulance service often works with the fire department to respond to emergencies in the area.