The San Luis Fire Department (SLFD) was allocated $100,000.00 to purchase and rehabilitate two used ambulances.  Prudent shopping resulted in the purchase of two used ambulances from California and two very used ambulances from the City of Somerton well below the authorized budget limit.  The California ambulances were placed into service on August 18, 2016.  The two Somerton ambulances will provide SLFD with little else than some critical equipment included with the purchase; gurneys, power gurney loading systems, mobile radios, mobile data computer mounts and limited other durable equipment.

The SLFD is requesting permission and authority to;
• Donate the ambulance vehicles purchased from the Somerton-Cocopah Fire Department, after equipment which is usable to SLFD is removed,
• Enter into a multi-year loan to finance the purchase of two new ambulances from Emergency Vehicle Group, and
• Utilize the purchasing powers available to the SLFD through the Houston-Galveston Area Council under the authority of the City of San Luis, Arizona, Code of Ordinances, Chapter 36, Section §36.09, Cooperative Purchasing.

As stated earlier, the two ambulances purchased from the City of Somerton have no value to the SLFD, beyond the durable equipment included in the purchase. These ambulances have greater than twice the miles than the two ambulances purchased from California and are less reliable.  After removal of the durable equipment, their value to the City of San Luis and the SLFD will be in the good will received by donating them to an ambulance organization in Mexico.

We have been talking to Emergency Vehicle Group (EVG) in Los Angeles, the authorized, factory representative and repair facility for Wheeled Coach Ambulances.  EVG has provided us with a point of contact with a financial institution which has provided us with some financing options for the purchase of two new ambulances.

We believe the preferred financing option is to make a down payment this year and then make payments over the next 5 to 6 years.  This financing plan for purchasing requires a down payment of 10%.  The total price for each ambulance is $189,645.00, a total financing package of $379,290.00, or a down payment of $37,929.00.

A review of the Capital Program account (340-341-90000) utilized to purchase and prepare the used ambulances for service shows a remaining balance of $39,624.19 of the original allotment of $100,000.00.  SLFD is requesting to (1) obtain a loan for the new ambulances, (2) make a down payment of $37,929.00 from the remaining balance in account 340-341-90000 that was allocated for the purchase of ambulances and (3) commit to the negotiated payment schedule for the life of the loan.  The desired ambulances would be purchased through EVG, would be custom built and almost identical as our original “rescue squad”, which is also a Wheeled Coach vehicle.

SLFD is requesting that City Council waive requirements of the purchasing and procurement process to allow the timely award of contract and subsequent delivery of the ambulances prior to May of 2017.  The purchase of MEDIC 1 was achieved by utilization of these two sections of the Purchasing Code.

If this process is approved and the ambulances are purchased as outlined, SLFD will have two brand new ambulances as front line response vehicles, fully loaded with the automated gurneys and patient loading systems, our existing 2014 ambulance as the first back-up apparatus and the two used ambulances as second back-up ambulances.

The requested purchases, as outlined, will allow SLFD to begin the process of growth planning for our ambulance operations and service delivery expansion.  SLFD will be requesting additional personnel and operational funds in our FY 2018 program requests to allow the staffing of SLM3 as a front line ambulance.  This will allow for the constant and continuous staffing of the third ambulance on a daily basis.  The third ambulance will; (1) reduce wear and tear on the front line ambulances by reducing their activity by greater than 30%, (2) reduce the activity of the two ambulance crews by greater than 30%, (3) allow SLFD to stand ready to provide timely services to 97% of the projected patients needing or requesting transportation to Yuma Regional Medical Center and (4) reduce probability of waiting for an ambulance from other than SLFD to less than 4% of our patients needing transportation.