Brown County Ambulance Service
The Brown County Ambulance Service provides 24 hour emergency ambulance service to the residents and visitors of Brown County. We staff two ambulances, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One of the two ambulances is a paramedic or Advanced Life Support Unit (ALS) and the other is a Basic Life Support Unit (BLS). In addition to the two ambulances that are staffed daily, we have a backup ALS unit and a backup BLS unit that can be staffed as needed by calling in off-duty personnel. A fifth non-transport unit is stationed in Versailles and serves for off-duty ambulance personnel to respond as “first responders” whenever available and an ambulance is dispatched to a Versailles address.
Our service consists of the ambulance director, administrative assistant, seven paramedics, and eleven EMT’s. Our paramedics and EMT’s are licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and are members of the Quincy Area EMS System. In addition to being licensed as an EMT or paramedic through IDPH, our paramedics are required to be certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) or equivalent. Our EMT’s are required to be certified in Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support and Pediatric Education for Pre-Hospital Providers (PEPP) or equivalent.
In addition to providing emergency ambulance service, the Brown County Ambulance Service teaches First Aid, Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) classes to the general public. If interested in taking one of these classes, you may contact the office of the Brown County Ambulance Service at the number listed above for details.
Station
The City of Mt. Sterling and the County of Brown began a collaborative effort in 1999 to construct a new station that would house the Mount Sterling Fire Department, Brown County Fire Protection District and the Brown County Ambulance Service. A three-acre site on the West edge of Mt. Sterling was purchased in 1999 with a $100,000 grant from the State of Illinois, as a site to construct this new station. In late 2002, the State of Illinois awarded a $350,000 Illinois First Grant to the city and county to begin construction of this new facility. With those funds, construction of the shell of the building began and was completed in late 2003. With no additional funding at that point, construction halted and the building sat vacant until 2005 when the county received additional grant funding as a result of the sale of the Buckhorn Ranch to the State of Illinois. With that funding, electrical and plumbing work commenced and was completed by early 2006. Again, with no additional funding, the construction halted and the building again sat dormant. In the fall of 2007, a local group of interested individuals spearheaded an effort to help the local fire and ambulance personnel raise the needed funding to complete the station. Those efforts raised approximately $100,000 which was enough to have all of the concrete work in the building completed in the spring of 2008. Following the completion of the concrete work, the only remaining work to be done was the construction of the finished interior office and living quarters. A $100,000 loan was obtained by the county to complete this work and has since been paid off completely with funds raised by the fire and ambulance personnel. Finally, in October of 2009, all three departments moved into our new home.
This facility is 15,000 square feet (5,000 square feet office and living area & 10,000 square feet apparatus floor and storage) and replaces a 3,500 square foot fire station and a 2,000 square foot ambulance station. The building was designed with the office area and living quarters in the middle of the station separating the fire department side from the ambulance side. The heating and cooling system is geo-thermal which has drastically reduced the utility expenses from what they were at the old facilities. The office area and living quarters boast administrative and secretarial offices, sleeping rooms for the on-duty ambulance personnel who work 24-hour shifts, shower and locker room facilities, laundry facilities, a large commercial kitchen, and a training room that will accommodate 50 people. The decision was made to build a large kitchen due to the fact that we hold numerous fund-raisers throughout the year which typically involve preparing and serving food.
We have designated the station as an emergency shelter for the residents and visitors of our community. Back-up power for the building is available from an 85 kw diesel generator which completely powers the building (including heat and air conditioning) in the event of a power outage. This is a benefit of huge proportions as we would have the ability to house several hundred individuals should the need ever arise. In addition to serving as an emergency shelter, this building serves as the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for Brown County. The EOC is where local officials gather during large-scale events for mitigation and decision-making purposes.
Equipment
Paramedic or Advanced Life Support Units
There are two Paramedic or Advanced Life Support Units operated by the Brown County Ambulance Service.
This is a 2016 Ford F-450 with a Horton Ambulance Conversion. This unit is 4-wheel drive making it easier for responding crews to reach emergency calls in inclement weather or other rough terrain. The radio call sign for this unit is 3Boy14.
It is a 2006 Ford E-450 with a Med-Tec Ambulance Conversion. The radio call sign for this unit is 3Boy16. Both of our Paramedic Unit’s have 12-lead EKG capability with the ability to transmit the EKG to the closest Cardiac Center in Quincy, IL.
All-Terrain Vehicle and Trailer
This all-terrain vehicle and trailer were purchased in 2005 with a 50% grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and a 50% grant from the United Way of Brown County. The ATV is a 2005 Kubota RTV 900 with a diesel engine. We designed a brush unit with a place for a stretcher and had Precision Tank & Equipment construct it for us. The unit carries 81 gallons of water and has a 100 ft. hose reel with a 5 GPM hydraulic pump. We also carry misc. tools for fighting brush fires. We have the capability with this unit to carry a patient in a stoke basket and also have a jump seat where a paramedic can accompany the patient. This unit is extremely beneficial due to the large number of brush fires and injured hunters that we respond to each year.
Basic Life Support Units
There are two Basic Life Support Units operated by the Brown County Ambulance Service.
This is a 2000 Ford E-350 with a Med-Tec Ambulance Conversion. The radio call sign for this unit is 3Boy15.
This is a 2000 Ford E-450 with a Med-Tec Ambulance Conversion. The radio call sign for this unit is 3Boy19.
Basic Life Support Non-Transport Unit
This is our oldest ambulance still in service.
This serves as a Basic Life Support Non-Transport Unit and is stationed in Versailles. It is used as a “First Responder” vehicle whenever personnel are available and an ambulance is dispatched to a Versailles address. This unit is a 1986 Ford E-350 with a Med-Tec Ambulance Conversion.
Prior to 1994, all of our ambulances had the orange and white color scheme like the unit above. At that time, the Illinois Department of Public Health required that ambulances use that color scheme. By 1994, we had ordered a new ambulance and since the requirement from IDPH regulating the color scheme had been lifted, we decided to change our color scheme to green and white in support of the Brown County Hornets.