Date: Fri 06-Nov-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

ambulance-police

Full Text:

Old Ambulance Takes On A New Role

(with photo)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The police department has acquired a former ambulance which will be used as a

police support vehicle, according to Police Chief James E. Lysaght, Jr.

Chief Lysaght and First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal accepted the donated

former ambulance from the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps Tuesday.

Representing the ambulance organization were Malcolm McLachlan, vice president

of the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association, and John Basso, chief of the

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Chief Lysaght said the used ambulance will be a definite asset for the police

department.

In a report to Finance Director Benjamin Spragg, Chief Lysaght said the 1992

Ford ambulance is in very good condition due to its past garaging and

maintenance. "It will provide a level of operational assistance never before

available to (police) personnel," according to Chief Lysaght.

"As a general purpose support vehicle, the vehicle will serve in many

different ways and in a number of roles. It will provide the secure work area,

(and) communications, command and control facilities needed by (police)

personnel," he reports.

Police will use the vehicle for search operations for lost persons, the

investigation of serious and fatal motor vehicle accidents, processing and

investigating crime scenes, field training programs, public education, public

relations, drunken driving checkpoint and enforcement work, and tactical

situations, according to the chief.

The vehicle should prove useful in cases where a call for service requires the

long-term positioning of police in the field, and in situations where it is

necessary to simultaneously transport a number of police and/or equipment to a

call for service, Chief Lysaght reports.

With the acquisition of the former ambulance, police will donate their 1977

Dodge utility truck to the town's civil preparedness unit, Chief Lysaght said.

To make the ambulance suitable for its new role as a police vehicle, ambulance

corps decals will be removed from the vehicle and police decals placed on it

at a cost of $450.

Chief Lysaght expects the vehicle will be in police service more than five

years.

The police department already has most of the equipment needed to outfit the

vehicle, he said.

Mr McLachlan said the ambulance corps donated its last used ambulance to

Newtown Underwater Search and Rescue. Police sought the ambulance that is now

being disposed of by the ambulance corps.

When new, such an ambulance costs about $95,000, plus the various gear which

is installed in it for emergency use.

Chief Lysaght said police are seeking permanent garage space for the vehicle

where it can be kept out of the weather and be accessible to police when

needed.

Mr Basso said donating the ambulance to police represents "giving back to the

community." The ambulance corps wants to support other local agencies, he

said. "It's in everyone's best interests," he said.