The purchase of a new ambulance will keep Havre's fleet at three and enable emergency personnel to continue to serve the city and Hill County.

Without a third ambulance, "if we have an ambulance that is down or having any kind of work done on it, just even routine maintenance, it leaves us with one vehicle," Fire Chief Dave Sheppard said.

Often, there are back-to-back calls and without enough ambulances, emergency personnel must respond in a vehicle without the same medical equipment or the capability to transport patients, he added.

"It's very important to the community to have current emergency services of any kind and to keep the equipment updated," Mayor Tim Solomon said.

Havre's fire department personnel responded to 950 medical services calls last year, Sheppard said.  Some of those calls were transports to Great Falls.

The $132,593 2010 MedTec ambulance will take several months to build before it enters Havre's fleet, Sheppard said.

Another bid for $132,161 by Sawtooth Emergency Vehicles also was received for the scheduled ambulance replacement.

"We've been happy with the company and with the product," he said.  "And so we just feel like even though it's $400 more, we know the product, and we know the quality, and so we would just like to stay with the company."

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, City Council members unanimously approved accepting the MedTech bid at the council meeting Tuesday.. Most of the medical equipment is similar to the equipment on the two other ambulances, but there are some minor updates to the 1991 ambulance with more than 200,000 miles on it that the new one will replace, Sheppard said.