By Brenna Angel
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wuky/local-wuky-916892.mp3
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tornados, flooding, and ice storms. Those are just some of the emergency situations where state officials say the Commonwealth's new ambulance bus will prove very useful.
Public Health Commissioner Dr. William Hacker helped unveil the bus Thursday morning in Lexington. He says natural disasters and the 9/11 terror attacks have pushed state and local governments to step up public safety.
"The southeast United States has unfortunately lots of bad events, particularly with hurricanes. So the Gulf Coast states where they've had to evacuate health care facilities have experienced this particular need. So we're looking at their models, we then looked to what would be nice to have in Kentucky. And we realize this is an asset we think was worth investing in."
The ambulance bus is the first of its kind in Kentucky and only the 21st in the nation. It can provide individually-metered oxygen to up to 20 patients.
The $316,000 vehicle was purchased through state and federal grants.