An ambulance plated in black bulletproof metal with the word “RESCUE” on the side made its debut in Ada County Monday afternoon.
Chris Shandera, of the Ada County Paramedics’ Tactical Medical Team, filled out the grant paperwork necessary to receive the vehicle, worth $312,000, from the Department of Homeland Security more than a year ago.
By Monday's debut at the Ada County Public Safety Building, the ambulance had 20 miles on it, Shandera said. And he’s already test-driven it himself.
“It’s just a bigger, heavier vehicle,” he said.
The ambulance will accompany the Ada County Paramedics Tactical Medical Team when they join SWAT teams in the field. It will offer paramedics a safe place to render aid to those injured, other than the claustrophobic confines of the SWAT vehicles themselves.