Piedmont Fire Department takes delivery of a new ambulance to re’tire’ one of its older vehicles

PIEDMONT, S.D. – Providing services to people in the area between Rapid City and Sturgis, it’s important for the Piedmont Fire Department (PFD) to have quality equipment that they trust.

After 20 years of service, the Piedmont Fire Department is ready to retire one of its ambulances from 2003, as they took delivery of their new vehicle last weekend.

“It had its 20 years of life, and so it was time to upgrade to a newer, more reliable ambulance,” EMS Chief John Berglund, Piedmont Fire Department, said. “When people call, they want a reliable ambulance and when we go out the door, we want to make sure that we can provide that service.”

PFD always has two ambulances. At most times, they don’t need both vehicles, so one is usually designated as the service vehicle and the other is often used for events unless both need to be used.

The process for getting the new ambulance took about a year. They worked with Arrow Ambulances on the bid process for a new chassis, or the base frame of the motor vehicle.

“This ambulance is a remounted ambulance. So they took our old ambulance, took the box off of it, put it on to a chassis. So, it saved the taxpayers a considerable amount of money,” Berglund said.

There are a few new items for efficiency and safety like a vehicle backup camera and the inside is prepped for an auto-load system.

The inside of the ambulance still has everything else needed like burn kits and other medical supplies.

This new vehicle has the same colors and design as older ambulances.

But with this new one, instead of “Piedmont Fire Dept.”, it reads “Piedmont Ambulance.”

With the new ambulance, the department can continue to provide services that both residents and staff rely on.

“We’re kind of an island in between Sturgis and Rapid City. So we provide a service area that runs from Tilford Road to Stage Stop Road,” Berglund said. “The area is growing more and more, so to have that service is a great service to be able to transport somebody to the hospital that needs to go.”

While it still isn’t planned, the department is tentatively trying to have the blessing of the ambulance sometime next week.