Today we're proud to feature our neighbor, Life Star Rescue, Inc. as part of our dealer network. Located at 1171 Production Drive in Van Wert, Ohio, the dealership is directly across the street from our corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility. Our close proximity has helped us develop a special relationship with Life Star over the years, providing us important feedback as we roll out new processes and products, working with us to reach out to customers, standing out among others at our annual awards and much more.  They are truly a valued member of the Braun family.

Life Star Rescue, Inc. was established as a service and remount facility in 1998 in a founding partner's garage. The name Life Star Rescue, was chosen as a play on the Star of Life that is used so prominently in the EMS industry. A year later, they took on the Braun ambulance line and expanded their services into selling new emergency vehicles. After building a solid reputation, enhancing services and relocating to their current 50,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility, Life Star Rescue was purchased by Holman Enterprises out of New Jersey in 2006.

Today, Life Star Rescue represents the Braun ambulance brand in Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan. They also cover counties in eastern Illinois and northwest/southwest Ohio. Their knowledgeable emergency vehicle sales staff includes Troy Meeker for Ohio, Tony Crum for Indiana, Kris Crawley and Eric Crawley for Michigan, Rick Bell for Kentucky and Nick Boles for Illinois. General Manager, Lyle Halstead oversees the organization locally. The dealership is also a Braun Authorized Service Center.

One of the big benefits of being located so close to the Braun facility is having the ability to bring customers to the plant. Life Star focuses on having an open line of communication with departments throughout the process and often brings them over to Braun to see their unit being built first hand. The quality of the Braun product and the ability to customize a unit to meet the customer's exact requirements is a determining factor in their ongoing relationship with us.

When we asked Lyle if he could give us an example of a great experience of working with Braun, he had the following to say: "One of Rick Bell's customers thanked the Braun product for saving their lives following an accident. An 80,000 lb asphalt truck t-boned the Braun ambulance the squad was operating." The reputation and quality of the Braun product was put to the test, and it delivered.

Life Star also appreciates how accommodating the team at Braun is. An example of this was when a Braun Regional Sales Manager recently modified two orders late in the production process to meet additional requests from the customer. They have enjoyed being a Braun dealer for 13 years and look forward to representing the line for many, many more years to come.

If you'd like to read more on Life Star Rescue, you can visit their newly redesigned website at www.LifeStarRescue.com for tons of information. You can also reach them toll free at 888-607-6655.