Ashland is one step closer to buying a new ambulance and updating equipment for its rural 911 emergency service.
The U.S. Senate appropriations committee on July 27 voted to approve $431,000 for the town. It still faces votes in both chambers of Congress.
The new ambulance will cost $306,000 with an additional $125,000 going to purchase new equipment, including a battery-powered loading bed and two chest compression system devices. The town would have a total of two ambulances, with the new one replacing an older model.
If approved by the Legislature, the four-wheel drive Ford F-150 ambulance would arrive next year.
The coverage area reaches as far south as Knowles Corner on Route 11 and as far north as Soucy Hill at Eagle Lake, Peterson said.
“We are a very small rural 911 service and we have a very large coverage area,” said Tara Peterson, ambulance director for Ashland. “We actually cover about 2,350 square miles, we can go about 100 miles into the North Maine Woods.”
The ambulance will be stored in the Ashland municipal building to replace one of its older ambulances that include a 2003 and 2015 model.
An earlier version of this story said the State Legislature had to approve the $431,000 in funding. The funding is federal so must be approved by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee and the full Congress.
