Comment on Hawkins to consider reducing mandatory 300K mile ambulance retirement

ROGERSVILLE — Hawkins County EMS recently received a new $122,000 ambulance, an expense that the county's only ambulance service can't afford to make on a regular basis. But with the Hawkins County Commission's current mandatory 300,000 mile ambulance retirement regulation, cash strapped HCEMS could find itself having to replace most of its fleet in a very short period of time. Currently, 11 ambulances in the HCEMS fleet have more than 200,000 miles. On Thursday, HCEMS Director Jason Murrell asked the Hawkins County Commission's Public Safety Committee to revise the county's ambulance regulations to meet the less stringent state standards with regards to ambulance mileage. The county commission’s current ambulance regulations prohibit any ambulance with more than 300,000 miles from operating in Hawkins County.