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From EMSNetwork News Your best source for EMS News. we . search . so . you . don't . have . to http://www.emsnetwork.org/ Features If the Indiana Emergency Medical Commission approves
it, Gibson County could be the first ambulance service in the
nation to try a new side-entry ambulance.
Gibson County Emergency Medical Services Director Dan Alvey said
Tuesday the state commission is expected to render a decision June
23 on the use of the new model, produced by Elkhart-based ambulance
dealer McCoy Miller. He told Gibson County Commissioners a committee looked at the
prototype ambulance box, which allows for loading patients from
either side instead of the traditional rear-loading door. “Europe has them in service,” he said. The ambulance dealership’s website says the side-load design
eliminates side-facing seating positions, which are safer for
ambulance workers. The design gives attendants access to the
patient and controls while remaining seated and belted. It would cost $140,000 for an entirely new ambulance, but the
local
ambulance service will be remounting the box on an existing
vehicle, for $75,000. Plus, they’ll get trade-in value, he said.
“It will be a huge cost savings.” In session Tuesday, commissioners also agreed to extend a lease
agreement with Gibson General Hospital for use of the Princeton
ambulance base for another year. The new agreement provides a 30-day out clause and, at $7,500 a
year, will save the county about $11,000 in lease payments in one
year. Board of Commissioners President Bob Townsend said negotiations
for
improvements to the base behind the hospital, which has been leased
by the county since the late 1970s, are ongoing. “They would like
to see us stay out there,” he said. Last month commissioners took a $1,000 option to purchase a
potential new Princeton ambulance base just northwest of the South
Main overpass. Townsend said the county has that option until Aug.
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