On a snowy February afternoon, a well-used vehicle in Pittsburgh’s ambulance fleet was parked in a garage attached to the Training Division of the city’s Bureau of Emergency Medical Services. Its interior was barren, stripped of the life-saving medical equipment that used to line its shelves. The vinyl on a paramedic’s seat — antimicrobial and fluid-resistant to keep blood-borne pathogens from spreading — was peeling away, exposing the yellow upholstery foam.
The ambulance, known as Medic 20, is a backup for other “frontline” vehicles in the fleet: Purchased a decade ago, it can still be dispatched to the scene of a medical emergency if a truck in better shape isn’t available. Its total usage — which factors in engine operation — is roughly the same as 300,000 miles, said EMS Deputy Chief Jeffrey Tremel, who took this reporter inside its patient compartment during a tour of the Strip District facility.
Tremel said the truck should have been decommissioned long ago — ideally after five years. It “blew an engine” six months ago, which cost $50,000 to replace. It can cost a city more money to maintain an aging ambulance than buying a new one, according to a report by Cleveland’s EMS union…