I used to live in a town whose population at the time was forty-five thousand. Emergency ambulance service for that town was dispatched from a garage facility in the lower level of the town's City Hall. The year was 1968.
There were two ambulances on hand to serve the town's needs. One was a 1967 vehicle and almost new. The other ambulance had seen lots of service as it dated back to 1954.
One day, the older vehicle failed its motor vehicle inspection so a decision had to be made whether to repair it or replace it. Whatever the choice to be made, it had to be agreed upon in advance by the Mayor and by the Board of Alderman as neither had the authority to act on the matter without the consent of the other. Unfortunately, they could not agree with each other about what should be done.
I don't remember which side was which, but one insisted on repair while the other insisted on replacement. Neither side would yield to the other so neither choice was made. Instead, the 1954 ambulance got put in garage storage (mothballed) which left only one ambulance to serve the emergency needs of the entire town.
Heaven help anyone having a heart attack if the newer vehicle was in for an oil change!
I moved away at the end of 1968 so I never did find out how this finally got resolved. I have some family up that way and I've met other people from there too, but nobody has any memory of that situation nor any idea of what ultimately happened.
I guess forty-seven years is a pretty long time.
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