My 4x4 ambulance

[BushyFromOz]

That is the standard cot mount for most ambos in North America. The Y shaped yoke on the floor, up by the Captain's seat, cradles the front wheels of the stretcher, while the c-clamp on the rail along the wall clamps on the rear wheel area. As for how "secure" it is, meh... I wouldn't bet my life on it, but it's the standard here.

I was just considering the differences in design specs between here and there. Ours must be capable of withstanding a 20g forward movement and a 10g sideways/rearward movement. This actually applies to verye equipment stowage point (monitor, resus bag, traum bag etc etc) The vehicle must also have a rollover protection system built into the design, so if you flip the vehicle on its lid, the stretcher should hang in its mounts upside down.

EDIT

Dammit dust, you changed your post! 8)

[thamesmedic]

Al, you got to much time on your hands. :roll:

John

p.s. I want one :wink:

[akroeze]

Who can you communicate with on each of them, and what bands do they utilise?

Our radios have NOARS (Northern Ontario Ambulance Radio System) which is an older simplex radio system. Within the year they expect to have the Fleetnet Digital trunked system up and running like the rest of the province already has!

We also have provincial common (every single ambulance in the province has this simplex channel and every single tower in the province can receive it).

How often do you find you need the 4wd? Are all of your ambos 4wd?

Use the 4x4 feature personally I would say 4 times in 7 months. Don't know if I am average or not.

Only 2 of our trucks are 4x4 but that's also because Nakina base is one of the most remote bases in the province. We have a response area of potentially having to drive down several HOURS of bush roads.

And as promised I finally have the videos up. They don't show the roughness as well as I had hoped but oh well.

[pyroknight]

You guys have small patient treatment areas...

Don't you know it's not cool to point out the size of a guy's treatment area?

You obviously have never worked in the back of a Type II, much less a hearse-type unit!

The US is way behind in vehicle safety as far as crash-worthiness goes. I have only seen equipment mounts even available in the last few years. The fire service in the US has ignored this issue as well. I have seen MANY lethal pieces of unsecured equipment (like halligan bars) laying in the floor or between the seats of fire apparatus. I've worked on plenty of ambulances where monitors, oxygen cylinders, etc. were laying around as well. A TON of attention needs to be directed at this issue.

[Dustdevil]

Our radios have NOARS (Northern Ontario Ambulance Radio System) which is an older simplex radio system. Within the year they expect to have the Fleetnet Digital trunked system up and running like the rest of the province already has!

We also have provincial common (every single ambulance in the province has this simplex channel and every single tower in the province can receive it).

What I was getting at was, why two separate radios of completely separate makes and models? Especially if all you have is a couple of conventional channels? Is one a dispatch radio and the other a car-to-hospital radio? Them being so different, they must come from two different sources for two different reasons. What specifically is in EACH radio individually?

[akroeze]

Sorry about the confusion... the one on top of the console is the dispatch radio (the black GE).

The grey one mounted to the floor is a CB radio. The logging trucks (logging is the primary industry here) are almost all on this and when you're taking blind corners on bush roads it's nice to be able to warn them someone is coming the other way!

The phone on the floor/black hand mic on the back wall of the cab are both parts of the Satellite system. So we have a Sat phone and Sat radio because obviously regular radio coverage is poor once you get down bush roads. The mic piece is just like a regular radio, push-to-talk or you can make a regular phone call.

You can see the antenna for the satellite on the roof of the truck (big white dome)

Sorry again about the confusion

[EmergencyMedicalTigger]

I love the moose....how awesome!!

[Chief1C]

Do you guys not have easy loaders?

Knee bangers? I guess it's a regional thing. The only vehicle I've seen locally, with a one-man stretcher, is the funeral director. They aren't easy to push, alone, but it works for them.

There are two types of two man cots, now anyway. Four wheel and six wheel. The four wheel, you need two people, because it had to be lowered a lifted onto the deck. The six wheel, it hooks onto the floor, and the wheels have to be lifted. However, you can also release the wheels and collapse it to the ground and then just lift the stretcher up and push it in. I wouldn't do that with a patient on it, but, worst case scenario, that is something you could do.

[Urbanmedic461]

I was going to ask when you were switching to fleetnet. Much better system IMO. We've been using it since October. Most agencies are on it now (except a lot of fire departments). Dispatch can setup channels for multi-agency use. Works great during MCIs.

Nice pics 8)

[Timmy]

You obviously have never worked in the back of a Type II, much less a hearse-type unit!

We tend not to use Yank Tanks over here.

Knee bangers? I guess it's a regional thing. The only vehicle I've seen locally, with a one-man stretcher, is the funeral director. They aren't easy to push, alone, but it works for them.

lol I've never heard of Knee bangers before, original I guess lol... I've never had a problem with the easyloaders.