New Powered Ambulance Stretchers?

[fitzjr11 17]

has anyone seen the new power-pro powered operated stretcher? Styker and Ferno are making them now. Our dept is looking into replacing our 1 person Ferno w/ a power operated Stryker. Any imput if these are better then the current manual stretchers would be appreciated.

[Guest DADAY]

Have had the opp to play with it today. VERY cool. Seems like its very easy to use. I would buy it if i had the $$$$ to spend!

[fitzjr11 17]

We recieved a nice donation towards EMS, looking at new stair chair, stretcher and pulse ox/co monitor

[Guest]

Some of the BLS units that our company does ALS chase for has them. They work very well with the 300+ers. But to me, most importantly, it takes almost 100% of the work load out of your hands and away from your back. Cost is high but the long term benifit from reduction of workmans comp. will be huge, expecially in larger service areas.

[dfcic 0]

Was actually at an MVA call last night with a 600+ victim, and the stretcher lifted and lowered without incident. A very hearty price tag, but in this case, well worth the investment.

[doug_e 0]

I'm just over 200lbs. on a good day and four of us in the 200lbs. club sat on a Stryker to test the load capacity. I believe the salesperson said the max was 750lbs. Worked flawlessly! The price at the time was $11k with a rebate for our old stretcher. I would love to get a hold of one, that's for sure.

[firemoose827 324]

I have seen and played with them at the last Vital Signs conference in Rochester. I looked at two models; a pneumatic one and an hydraulic one. They both take a lot of work away from it and save your back some but the negative is you still have to manually load stretcher into abulance which still exerts your back, and the pneumatic one requires a scott bottle be attached to the underside of the head of the stretcher which takes up a lot of room. Also, the added weight of the equipment realy doesnt make it worth while.

Just my opinion though, and I only played with them for about 20 minutes so I guess you guys should just call the company and see if they can demo it for you.

Good Luck!

[GAW6 66]

Some of the BLS units that our company does ALS chase for has them. They work very well with the 300+ers. But to me, most importantly, it takes almost 100% of the work load out of your hands and away from your back. Cost is high but the long term benifit from reduction of workmans comp. will be huge, expecially in larger service areas.

←

I totally agree. my VAC is talking about looking in to them. As a person who had back surgery 5 years ago for a ruptured disk from lifting stretchers - I am totally in favor of them. We have been wondering how they are working out - so thanks everyone for the positive feedback!!

[unleashedff248 3]

I know Somers was looking at purchasing one. The salesman came and let us play with one (I was able to try the one made by Ferno). It's nice, not gonna lie. However it does cost a lot, as other posts have stated. My opinion is that it will benefit the older members more than the younger ones. I personally had no preference either way, as lifting the stretcher up is not a major concern of mine. The stretcher is slightly heavier than a regular one too, which will make getting it inside a bit more of a chore. Like any luxury, it's nice...but not really neccessary.

If I had one recommendation for any departmnent looking to buy new patient transport equipment it would be the new stair chairs that self-retard the load while descending the stairs. These things are truely amazing, and make me feel a lot more secure getting heavier/larger patients down the stairs safely. In Somers we recently purchased a set. Truely a great piece of equipment!

[firemoose827 324]

I totally agree. my VAC is talking about looking in to them.  As a person who had back surgery 5 years ago for a ruptured disk from lifting stretchers - I am totally in favor of them.  We have been wondering how they are working out - so thanks everyone for the positive feedback!!

←

Hey GAW6, I saw in your post that you had back surgery? I just recently herniated 2 of my disks and It KILLS. They are talking about surgery for me also and I am a little concerned about it. How was the surgery for you? How long were you out of work? Any lasting problems or restrictions? If you dont mind me asking that is, sorry for being nosey but I am a little worried!

Stay Safe!

[Guest]

Yes,they ambulance assoc. that I am in bought the first one in CT.Having been in EMS for 15yrs it is worth the mony after you pick up the 1st person that weighs 300+ lbs.We have the Stryker unit

[Firefighter57 0]

we have them at the katonah/bedford hills VAC. they are easy to use and have worked great as dfcic said. from what the rep explained to us at the training we had on them, it is hard to drop a pacaint and if it does happen, the hydrolics actualy slow the fall down so it is much safer in that aspect. the only thing that you have to look out for is the battire life but we havent run into any problems yet. even if it is dead, there is a manual over ride. so far, they have been worth it.

[GAW6 66]

Hey GAW6,  I saw in your post that you had back surgery?  I just recently herniated 2 of my disks and It KILLS.  They are talking about surgery for me also and I am a little concerned about it.  How was the surgery for you?  How long were you out of work?  Any lasting problems or restrictions?  If you dont mind me asking that is, sorry for being nosey but I am a little worried!

Stay Safe!

←

No problem - I love talking about my surgery because most people are afraid of back surgery. I was in so much pain before the surgery - and as I always say, I go to the dentist and don't take novacaine and I had 2 kids with no drugs - so I have a high tolerance for pain. That back pain was the worst!! I was only in the hospital 1 night and I was back to work in 2-1/2 weeks. I couldn't do any ambulance calls for 8 weeks and I am very cautious even now, but the surgery was a huge success! I was pain free right after the surgery and I had feeling back in my leg. My neurosurgeon said that the disk fragments were crushing my nerves so bad that my leg was twitching as he was removing it! The surgeon was Dr. Cohen - he actually worked with DOCS in Yonkers 1 day a week; his regular office is in Manhattan - had the surgery at St. Lukes-Roosevelt.

[Guest]

KBHVAC has 2 hydraulic stretchers and they are great. Also, Ferno has new stairchairs that have tracks on them so you can roll it down the stairs. Damn, I wish they had this technology 13 years ago. My back would hurt a lot less