Iqaluit to get new ambulance

A City of Iqaluit ambulance van responds to a fire this past February. The new ambulance that the City plans to purchase will be mounted on a truck. (FILE PHOTO)

Iqaluit city councillors voted unanimously in favour of buying a third ambulance for the City of Iqaluit at their April 30 council meeting.

Iqaluit’s fire chief Luc Grandmaison first appeared before the council to explain what kind of ambulance would best meet the city’s needs.

The money for the new ambulance, a maximum of $200,000, was approved in the last budget.

But the ambulance that Grandmaison proposed to council came in under budget.

“The ambulance would replace aging equipment and reduce costs of ongoing maintenance,” Grandmaison said.

Iqaluit’s third ambulance will be different than the others, featuring an ambulance box on top of a four-wheel-drive truck.

The customized truck is due to arrive in October.

The city evaluated three different ambulance designs before deciding on the truck: type one, with an ambulance box mounted on a truck; type two, more of a van type of vehicle; and, type three, with an ambulance box mounted onto a van.

The stretcher alone for the new ambulance, which will have an ambulance box mounted on a truck, will cost $15,000, but the add-ons for the new ambulance “will fulfill the emergency service needs” of Iqaluit, Grandmaison said.

The last ambulance, which included “house-made modifications,” cost the city $170,000, Grandmaison said.

Last year, the city also spent up to $70,000 in repairs to its two ambulances, which included replacing an engine in one ambulance.

Usually maintenance on the ambulances runs at about $15,000 a year, but “it’s become very costly to operate these ambulances,” Grandmaison said.

One of those two older ambulances will now go into retirement for use as a “reserve” ambulance.

City councillors joked that the new ambulance truck would be able to navigate Iqaluit’s bumpy streets and potholes.