Ambulance campaign begins

Limestone Medical Center Emergency Medical Services Director Shelton Chapman discussed the need for a new ambulance last week at the hospital. Journal photo/David Stone A campaign to raise money for a new Limestone Medical Center ambulance will kick off Saturday with a fund-raising stew supper and auction.

The fund-raiser is sponsored by the LMC Foundation, an organization formed in 2006 to raise money to meet the growing needs of the Groesbeck hospital.

The Foundation is raising money to purchase and outfit a 2010 Chevrolet one-ton diesel ambulance that will replace a 2004 truck that has been plagued with problems.

“This ambulance has been a pain in our side,” LMC Emergency Service Director Shelton Chapman said last week. “It’s had electrical problems, turbo problems … it’s just been one thing after another.”

The new ambulance will cost $120,475 plus about $40,000 for equipment, hospital spokesman Cody Campbell said.

Chapman said the 2004 model ambulance likely will be used as a trade-in and has a value of about $30,000.

Equipment needed to outfit the ambulance will include a $20,000 12-lead cardiac monitor and a new transport stretcher.

A radio and other equipment from the older ambulance would be reinstalled in the new vehicle, Chapman said.

The new ambulance will join a fleet that includes 1998, 2006 and 2008 models. The 1998 model is primarily used as a reserve.

Chapman said LMC’s 12-person EMS team serves Limestone County 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We have four people and at least two ambulances ready to go during a shift,” he said. “Usually we have two drivers and two paramedics on duty.”

EMS staff members work 24-hour shifts, then have 48 hours off.

Chapman said his department responds to an average of 140 calls a month. Last year, LMC’s emergency medical department responded to 1,689 calls.

Most of those calls originated in Limestone County, but mutual aid agreements with other ambulance services allows the department to respond to calls in Robertson, Leon, Falls and McLennan counties.

In addition to responding to accidents and other emergency calls, the department has been providing transport and transfer services for LMC, as well as hospitals in Mexia, Temple, Waco and Bryan, for more than two years.

“The transport service is a source of revenue for the hospital,” Chapman said.

The number of EMS calls at Limestone Medical Center jumped from 972 to more than 1,400 within the first year of offering the transport and transfer service.

During the four years it has existed, the LMC Foundation has raised more than $100,000 to purchase equipment for the hospital.

That equipment includes a $38,000 portable X-ray machine, a $39,000 12-lead EKG machine, training tapes, physical therapy equipment and a stairway evacuation chair.

IF YOU GO

The annual LMC Foundation stew supper and auction will begin at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Groesbeck Civic Center. The doors open at 6 p.m. for viewing of auction items. The fund-raiser will include live and silent auctions, as well as a drawing for prizes. Entertainment will include Groesbeck musician Mary Belle Leach and a comedian. Tickets are $10 and are available at the Groesbeck Journal, First National Bank and Farmers State Bank.