NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The North Adams Ambulance Service received its new ambulance Friday.

 

"We are very excited; we are always excited when we get new ambulances," General Manager John Meaney Jr. said.  "The crew will be excited about it and they are going through all of the new training."

 

Meaney said the new ambulance replaces a 2009 unit that had near 203,000 miles on it.

 

"It was the end of its life," he said. "It was in its natural cycle for replacement."

 

Meaney said the new ambulance cost $155,000 and part of it was funded through donations from the community.

 

Meaney said the ambulance is equipped with an automatic lifting unit so when they load a patient into the ambulance, the emergency medical technicians don’t have to muscle the patient into the ambulance. 

 

Meaney said other than that the ambulance is pretty much the same as the other units.

 

"Quite honestly we have four trucks that are identical," he said. "We have been aiming for that for some time now. Everything is the same and it is going to be good."