01/06/10 66 W, 4 I - + 8 - 14 New Vehicle For District 1
Wake County EMS placed a new District Chief vehicle in service yesterday. District 1 downtown received this 2009 Dodge Ram truck to replace the long-familiar Suburban. This is the third truck-style chief's vehicle for the Wake County EMS System, after District 5 (Cary EMS) and District 4 (Six Forks EMS). Better photos from Lee, later. Yours Truly quickly shot these this afternoon. Click to enlarge:
Why the change from the Suburban?
Adam - 01/06/10 - 23:39
1) More storage room.
2) More importantly, it’s safer than all that equipment flying around the cab of the Suburban.
CJS (Email) - 01/07/10 - 07:18
A lot of departments that utilized the Suburban and Explorer are now switching to pickups due to the diesel not being available in the SUV’s.
stretch - 01/07/10 - 09:33
Yep, and with the weather were are having lately, keeping the meds cold should be NOooo problem! I agree – they are very nice and a reasonable/safer alternative to the suburbs. The diesel can definitely withstand more use than the gasoline engines. I like the “goat” too! Congrats WCEMS!
A.C. Rich - 01/07/10 - 21:12
That’s a nice looking rig, and from the looks very functional as well. I rode back from the hospital in the old DC-1 one night and was scared that if the brakes were hit too hard we’d be crushed by the amount of stuff that was behind us. Nice choice on going with a single rear wheel setup to keep with width down for better maneuverability. I’ve seen a lot of Battalion Chiefs around the country going to a similar type set up as well, even seeing one that came with a slide-out command board out of the rear with a pop-up tent that was built into the body. Way to think outside the box. I’m going to be interested to see how the Dodge chassis holds up.
CFP 7021 - 01/08/10 - 11:17
Its a nice looking ride. Are they going replace the rest of the DC SUV with this type a vehicle? With all of the equipment out of the cab it looks to be much safer. How are they keeping the meds at the right temp.?
just wondering - 01/10/10 - 10:30
I believe the truck is a pilot project, with District 1 and District 3 to continue operating sport utility vehicles.
Legeros - 01/10/10 - 14:55