RAYMORE, Mo. — An ambulance is only a 911 call away. You'll see flashing lights. You'll see first responders. What you can't see, is what happens behind the scenes to make sure they can respond.
"In October 2021, we placed an order for three new ambulances," said Eric Smith, deputy fire chief for the South Metro Fire District based in Raymore. "As of today, we’re still waiting on those three ambulances to show up."
Tim Anderson, deputy chief of operations for the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District based in Blue Springs, is experiencing something similar.
"Being an emergency service, they put us to the front of the line, but that line is still long," Anderson said.
The two fire districts KSHB 41 interviewed are 26 miles apart based in Raymore and Blue Springs. They put a lot of miles on an ambulance in any given year.
"Typically, we try to get rid of the ambulance chassis when they hit 100,000 [miles]," Anderson said. "Our busiest trucks are around 140,000."
Emergency vehicles in these areas are wearing down with a longer wait time to be replaced.
"The lead times from ambulances have gone from six months, to 24 or 30 months," Smith said.
How are they handling it?
Ambulances are built on top of a chassis — the engine and frame of a truck.
The production time for ambulances needing those chassis continued getting longer from supply chain backups during COVID.
The Scripps News Investigates Team found some departments across the country are struggling to keep reliable ambulances on the road.
"The calls never stop," Anderson said.
They have to keep going and responding.
"We don't know when this is going to shake itself out," Smith said.
Their response time, if too long, is a public safety issue — but what about the backlog?
"There really isn't much of a light at the end of the tunnel," Anderson said.
What is in their control is planning.
As fire protection districts, covering several cities, they don't have the oversight or resources of local government. They operate solely on taxpayer dollars, so they need to budget years out to avoid a threat to public safety.
In the South Metro Fire District, they're exploring increasing their reserve due to the chassis situation.
"We don't want to keep going back to taxpayers asking for a tax increase," Smith said.
In the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District, they are also looking ahead.
"We have two that will be cycled into reserve in 2027 and with the lag in production, we’re looking to have to order them at the end of this year for 2027," Anderson said. "If we have an accident with one that goes out of service for a length of time, you have to have that equipment to backfill it, which is why we have more in reserve now."
They're only a 911 call away, but a new ambulance, is years away.
"It's the new normal," Smith said. "What's the next delay?"
A chassis is purchased by manufacturers from companies like the Ford Motor Company and General Motors.
A regional issue
A U.S. Department of Commerce Spokesperson told our Scripps team:
"Automakers told officials that the supply chain issues preventing chassis manufacture have been resolved."
A couple manufacturers who service our area — Osage Ambulances and American Response Vehicles — told KSHB 41's Alyssa Jackson the supply chain issues are resolved, but they're still catching up and there is around a two to three year wait for agencies who want a new ambulance built.
Kat Probst, the president of Missouri's Ambulance Association, said some rural counties that are nearly 100 miles away from their nearest trauma center, are dealing with the wait list along with budget constraints.
Her agency, the Adair County Ambulance District, is the sole provider for emergency care due to their proximity to their nearest trauma center.
"I've told my manufacturer, I want one ambulance every fall, every year. Put me on the list, but can I sustain that?" Probst said. "And if I have an ambulance that can be remounted, it's $175,00. Can I put that in my budget and know I have that or greater? You can only do that so many times. When I get to that second or third cycle, am I going to have $350,000 to replace my fleet?
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