Search the Community

As several of you know, I am about 6 months into my dream job. I am the sole Paramedic& EMS Battalion Chief of a very rural agency. The closest ER is a PA staffed Level 4 critical access hospital, at 45 miles and a physician staffed level 3 with no Cath lab. The closest Cath lab is 100 Miles away This agency receives 300ish calls per year, Due to a generous annual donation by a hydroelectric dam in the coverage area, this agency has one paramedic on staff and a volunteer BLS support staff. We cover 750 square miles of mountainous terrain in the extreme NE of Washington state. "The Paramedic" (weird to have it be a title rather than level of training), has traditionally had a Fly car for ALS Rendezvous/Fire Command. Looking through the old records it has been a variety of vehicles including: a Aerostar van, K5 Blazer, a 1990 Suburban, a 2001 Dodge Durango, 2004 Chevy Tahoe, 2009 Expedition, 2005 F-250 (with slip-in fire tank/pump). We serve a fair amount of forest service land with seasonal access and support several Search and rescue missions per year. The problem I have ran into over the last 6 months, is that our two Primary Ambulances are beautiful Type 1 Ford F350 BraunNW Northstar Ambulances, with 167" wheel base, and 75" floor to Ceiling in the back. While they have been providing excellent transport capabilities, with the nature of our very mountainous terrain, there have been problems getting to some of the patients and the boxes have thus far gotten away with only minor damage. I say all this to set the stage for my question. I currently have been approved to purchase a replacement vehicle, that has patient transport capabilities, Odyssey has a cabinet system designed for SUV patient transport and I like it so far, but have only seen a handful of pictures, and haven't had a chance to talk to anyone actually using them. The vehicle I am looking at is a 2015 Ford Police Interceptor Utility and that cabinet system has been installed and utilized by one agency, but again, I haven't been able to contact them. I ask this question to all of you: If you were to design your Dream Fly car with patient transport capabilities, what would you choose, how would you lay it out, and lastly what color would you paint it and how would you stripe and sticker it? http://www.odysseyauto.com/cabinets/ems-40-60-t1r.html Fireman1037 AKA BAYAMedic and newly dubbed "Command Medic 203" chappaqua pics.pdf