Honestly, I could not thank everyone enough and I need to make mention how Gary too goes on and on about all your hard work to get the ambulance out to him. The guy is super thankful and never misses an opportunity to express his gratitude. It's why he's constantly calling me with updates, and truth be told I did just get of a video call with him about this very subject.
The story is still developing and I'm going to try to remember the details the best I can. Earlier in the day we had a discussion as it was the first time he's really had a chance to go through the ambulance and take account of what sort of condition it was in after the rescue team returned it.
First up, the cabinets were completely empty and the oxygen bottles were gone. At some point the power went out as all the clocks had been reset. He says the russians must have cleaned it out to scrounge the supplies, and didn't torch it for reasons he didn't know. He figures maybe they thought they were going to recover it before we could. Luckily they didn't get it.
It was on that video tour of the ambulance that I noticed our stickers were missing from the ceiling, but I didn't say anything.
Also on that call he mentioned he was about to go on a 35km test drive to see what sort of mechanical condition the ambulance was in. He reported that it had been beat so bad on the roads that the back doors wouldn't open. Furthermore, there was some undercarriage damage and the fuel tank had taken a pretty decent hit. Naturally, the suspension was sitting on what was left if its bump stops.
That was all I heard until exactly 5 minutes ago.
He's called back now with good and bad news. The bad news is the ambulance will no longer be used as a "rapid response unit".
He's had a mechanic look at it, and the mechanic is not confident that the ambulance's engine is fit for the job. Under normal driving, the engine runs and drives just fine. But then they went out on a 130kph (78mph) test run and put their foot to the floor and the temperature gauge started to climb. The mechanic says the 4-days of idling the the 30-degree (85 deg F) heat probably hurt it.
One thing Jack didn't mention to me but apparently mentioned to Gary is that the ambulance wouldn't rev over 3000rpms. Gary and the mechanic discovered it was electronically limited for the ambulances whole life. The mechanic believes that this limitation, and the engine's pampered existence is probably why it survived at all. Had it been driven normally for the duration of its life, he feels it wouldn't have survived the ordeal. Gary is chocking this up to another miracle in a long line of miracles that brought this to him in the first place and is just rolling with it.
So what happens now?
Gary was worried it was headed to the scrap pile, or would be cannibalized for other ambulances. The good news is that neither of this is going to happen.
The mechanic said the ambulance is too good of a unit otherwise to let go. Instead, the ambulance is going to undergo a mild refurbishment while they clean and sterilize and refit the interior. The stretcher and oxygen system will be given to another ambulance with a damaged unit. The rest is going to be converted into a mobile aid station for minor (well, I think WE would consider them a bit more "major") injuries. Things like sutures, wound/burn treatment, and other procedures for the unit can still be performed in the ambulance.
A team within his unit that he is still in charge of has been operating out of a tent. He's had them have a look and they are head-over-heals at the prospect of having this ambulance. They report that they're going to put struts underneath the rear to level the vehicle when parked and awnings at the side and rear to expand their working area. They're not even going to bother with the rear suspension.
The diesel heater and the air conditioning system are both conveniences they've not had, and I don't remember if I mentioned that I bought plug adapters for all the wall outlets while I was in Germany. They were pretty stoked about having proper 220v wall outlets.
They're going to add a connection to the exterior to hook up a generator so they don't need to use the vehicles engine when parked for long periods, mount a starlink to the top, and just a whole host of other things they're bubbling about (including using it to train new medics on the nuaces of working in confined spaces). When the unit moves, they'll pack up and move with. When the unit is stationary, they'll unpack and deploy as an aid station.
So there we go. Our ambulance gave it what she had and took a beating in the process. Gary says the road she was running this whole time had also crippled a Humvee during the same operation. He credits our girl for saving the lives of three soldiers, surviving an ordeal she shouldn't have seen the other side of, and still rolling with the unit after all way said and done.
He say's he's gutted that you all won't see her in any of the videos. He was hoping to record her in action. But he's genuinely happy that she's staying with the unit and moving into her new roll.
It was during this video call that Gary noticed the stickers we placed had been removed from the ceiling. We had a good laugh at the idea of some russians stealing those and leaving the air freshener, and he promises that if any videos of russians with "Dnipro Express" stickers make an appearance then he'll forward them our way. Honestly, I think they just fell off in either the ambulances medical missions or in the cleaning in-between. There was one sticker left on the front wall, and if something like that was really stolen by the rooskies, then that one would have been taken too.
So I could get back home and help deliver something with a manual transmission 
