New Mercedes Sprinter rig Antwerp Hoboken Belgium

[VDCavey]

Since last thursday the volunteer service i drive got their new ambulance, first call on the new vehicle was a GSW, nice way to find your way around in it

All signalisation is LED based and a 2x200 watts threetone horn, cars are jumping aside even just from the lights, did a 24 hr service this weekend with it and it is a dream to drive

This is the forst vehicle in our service with a stryker stretcher, I am still figuring out if the strenght and the adjustability is in favour of the lower weight and the smaller size of our old stretchers.

[AnthonyM83]

It does look nice...a bit cramped, but nice. Are those drawers I'm seeing? Isn't that hard to pull open and look for stuff...rather than sliding transparant plastic compartments. I do like the outside O2/stairchair setup.

[VDCavey]

inside the high drawers are plastic boxes with medication and perfusion materials, in the wide lower drawers is spare O2 materials, bandages etc.

To European standards the car is pretty big inside, you have to take consideration that the average US rig cant pas 25% of the streets in the old center of Antwerp, even with a van this size we lose a mirror time to time

We also have less equipment with us, when we receive a life threathening call or if EMT's on scene decide we need it we get assistance from a medical urgency unit (MUG) with a doctor and a nurse inside.

[VDCavey]

These are some of the MUG's we work with in our sector, each one is hospital based.

Delta 1: Antwerp university hospital

Delta 3: Stuivenberg hospital

Delta 4: Sint Vincentius hospital

Delta 21: Middelheim hospital

Delta 21: St Augustinus hospital (21 swithes from week to week to another hospital)

Delta 29 Middelares Deurne

[Dustdevil]

Drawers at the head rock! I love them!

Think of all those things that just don't stand or stack up neatly in a cabinet. And being right there at the head, they are especially useful for 0[sub:9ba5b4f6c9]2[/sub:9ba5b4f6c9] masks and cannulae, as well as other airway supplies. It's like working out of a crash cart, which is eminently more convenient than working out of those cabinets you have to reach over the patient to get to.

Minus 5 for the c-collars on the grab rail. That is a serious compromise of a safety device. You are losing 99 percent of your ability to use the rail for what it was intended for. Not to mention that those things dangling above your patient's head tends to make them seasick. I'd fire whoever's idea that was.

[AnthonyM83]

Gotcha.

Interesting concept, the MUGs thing.

I'd like to work in an ambulance like that...of course everything looks good when it's new. Then again it's a Mercedes.

[VDCavey]

The pis are taken a few days ago, luckily someone decided to stock those collars where they belong (next tot the door aside you bag) otherwise I would have done it

Some of our (older) colleagues don't take the whole collar thing to serious and tend with minor indications to put the collar on when the patient is on the stretcher inside the bus (yes I know :roll: ) When i respond to anything where the word "fall" or "accident" is inside i have the collar in my hand when is get out, It's just one of my priorities, anyone who boozed or pilled himself up can crawl for my part in the car, an addiction is not even close to a disease but I use a load of collars...just or my own conscience

[Timmy]

There kinda the same as Aussie Ambos

[FormerEMSLT297]

looks nice, but a little cramped for US standards.. best of luck.. hope it rides well for you

[Dustdevil]

looks nice, but a little cramped for US standards.. best of luck.. hope it rides well for you

Meh... after a couple years out here working out of the back of a Toyota Land Cruiser or Chevy Tahoe, even a Sprinter will be a welcome relief for me!

Love the MUGs!