Styker Power Load System

[JShoreEMT]

Does anyone use this system over seas yet? Or have any reviews? (Video can be found here:

)

I'd like to get it for my EMT Squad in the states when it becomes available.

I'd like to know positives and negatives before I make such an investment!

Edited December 15, 2011 by JShoreEMT

[WolfmanHarris]

Apparently we'll be phasing them in over 2012, 2013 (based on the 2012 capital budget). The budget just says "power tail lift" but given that this is the only one currently heading to market in Ontario...

[DwayneEMTP]

Man...gave me a semi....but then again, it seems like there are a lot of things on there to break...

That seems like a great system to let another service test for a few years before sinking a lot of money into it.

Dwayne

[nypamedic43]

It's very expensive. A company north of us here in NY has one, thier's doesnt have that particular system, and you still have to pick the stretcher up, with the patient on it and then engage the hydraulics to pick the wheels up. There is also a system that has a winch on it. IMHO...it takes longer for the hydraulics to pick the wheels up than it does to just get a regular stryker and pick the wheels up yourself and at half the cost.

And if the hydraulics give out..you are basically screwed.

Edited December 16, 2011 by nypamedic43

[island emt]

The new stryker system is not available on the market yet .

I saw it this year as a demo. It is a nice concept.

I have a quote somewhere on my desk with the priceing. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 15k on top of the price of the power stretcher. total between 25-30 k for the package

VERY expensive

[WolfmanHarris]

VERY expensive

Ya outfitting the fleet is a big line item on the budget. But it's the current goal of the service to transition to no-lift where possible. We have the tracked stair chairs. The power cots and power load are coming. We have bariatric units with ramps, winches, airbags. We also have a very open lift-assist policy.

[romneyfor2012]

I have not used this one where it pulls the stretcher into the truck, but I have used the power lift stretchers. I am a big fan, especially if you are an IFT service that has to lift a lot of bedridden patients all day, but here are a few of the problem areas:

1. Very expensive.

2. Very heavy if the battery fails or you have to lift the stretcher with patient up or down stairs, or over rough patch of earth.

3. You need to have a battery charger in every truck so that the batteries can recharge, I think they also have a charging stretcher bar now, so that the stretcher is charging all of the time. At first your batteries will have long life, but just like any other rechargeable battery, it will lose capacity over time. So make sure you have some way to charge in the field.

4. Have a few spares for when breakdowns occur, it does not happen often, but you usually can not fix these with a pair of pliers and a hammer, a service tech will have to come out, which could be days/weeks depending upon where you are located.

5. We did not see a significant reduction in back injuries with this purchase, but we may be unique.

[Chief1C]

The Stryker rep quoted the stretcher at $13,999 and the loading system at $28,500. Yeah. That ain't gonna happen.

The Stryker Power Cot is heavy, so.... I like my lightweight Ferno. Just sayin'

[JakeEMTP]

They're great for inter facility transports. The first time you have to lug it up or down stairs, you will curse the day you ever considered it.

Another thing, I have found that we can raise the wheels manually on the other stretchers quicker than the power stretcher can raise the wheels on its own. Personally, the extra 50 - 60 pounds the power stretcher weighs isn't worth it.

[heerspinkb]

We have been using the powercot since 2007, we have 24 of them and they have been god send.

We continue to work hard at the concept of zero lift whenever possible and our injury stats are showing this.

Mechanical wise the only real problem we have had is the replacement of the cot's switches, which we hope will be reduced with the newest generation of switches that have come out.

Battery wise we have had no issues, Stryker attributes this to the fact we run them dead and change out at the station or ED.

The powerload system looks interesting but I don't know if we will or when we will be taking that leap.

The other big change for us, is that we no longer carry the cot into a house. We extricate with a tracked stairchair or other means.

Merry Xmas

Brett H.