Stryker Power-PRO cots

[ffpm41]

Anyone using the Stryker Power-PRO cots? What do you think of them?

Stryker Power-PRO

[strippel]

No, but we are currently trialing the Ferno motorized litter, and are not impressed.

We have two of them, and have grant money to replace all litters with them.

They have resolved the charger hook-up issues (but we still have the old chargers). The connections are not EMT proof, and can easily break wires, making the litter useless. Also, the battery weighs way too much, and it is very awkward to replace.

[ffpm41]

I've seen both at trade shows and wasn't impressed by it, and really don't like the charging system. We love the current Strykers we have, thats why I was looking at the Power-PRO.

Where did you get grant money to buy new cots?

[afd216]

Our service has 2 of the Power Pro cots, purchased about 8 months. No problems to date, other than being a bit heavy. They replaced Ferno 28s which we were tearing up. We also bought the tracked stair chairs because we have places we didn't want to try to get the Power Pros up the stairs. ( We're trying to prevent back problems ) We' ve found it's easy to have both EMTs on the end of the cot when loading it with a patient.

[Roostmonkey]

One of the BLS rigs around here has one. What an awesome tool. There is a manual release for the legs, so you don't have to sit there all day and waste battery life. Everyone that has used the unit has been impressed. Battery life is quite good as well. I can't really fault the thing. If it saves just ONE back injury from occuring... it was worth every single penny... and you know our patient's aren't getting any lighter.

[Zdeaner911]

I have seen one and I think they are a real back saver!!

[strippel]

I don't know where the grant money came from. Like everyone else, we are trying to tap every source of money.

I just know that management is trying to figure out how not to loose the money. We will not be getting them, but will keep one for the bariatric truck.

[Nate]

We just got 20 of them to put on all of our rigs. They are awesome, and we haven't had a single back injury in the two months we have had them.

The battery life is great, it is suppose to last through 20 patients. We are getting through 24 hour shifts with no problems. Plus, if the battery does go dead, you can always use it like a manual cot. The back slides in as opposed to dropping down. This makes moving it in lower positions nicer because you don't "drag" the back. The back has a hook for the LP12, and works great (although we have a strap to secure it).

We have found that the battery pack helps "balance" the cot out a little better. It does weigh 38 pounds more then a regular cot, but we don't carry our cot up or down but maybe three or four steps. It also should be noted that the cot's frame is a bit "beefier" in the fact that it's thicker then a regular cot.

The NUMBER ONE reason why I love this cot is because when you work an MVA it is perfect. You can get the cot at the level you want (because there are no set locking locations). Then with your patient in a KED, your able to transfer them from the car to the backboard on the cot and not have the drop off from the seat of the car to the cot. Less pain, less risk, and easier on your crew.

We broke the prototype, but the final design seems to be working great for us. They fixed the hydraulic leaks we were having when we put a lot of weight on it.

[Coach Hohman]

Our county has one on demo and it's floating around between our eight crews. My district has it right now and so far I'm indifferent about it. A big pro is that it's easy to maneuver and obviously very easy to lift your patients, but you still have to hold the end of the cot up while you raise the legs, and that extra 38 pounds or whatever is hard for me to balance. Now, I'm 6-6, so I love this cot because it sits up very high. My partner on the other hand is 5-5 and 100 pounds and she hates it, but I do most of the lifting anyway, so this will definately save my back. We've only ran two calls with it so far, so I guess time will tell.

[medicgirl69]

We have had the Power Pro Cots in use for about 3 months. My partner and I think this was both long-overdue and one of the best back savers ever; easy to use, excellent battery life, no problems at all with it. It is slightly heavier than the manual Strykers (Power Cot weighs approximately 90 lbs), but a couple of uses and redistributing the weight properly and you'll never notice it.

Someone also mentioned the tracked stair chair. All the years I been working, never had a stair chair, thought it would be a waste of money for the company - but now that we have it, I have averaged at least one use of the chair per shift rotation. It is also an extremely easy-to use compliment to our equipment and what a back saver. Even our first responders love it, they request to use it every chance they get.

Thank you, Stryker, for both of these great tools.