Tampa Fire Rescue Adds Vehicle For Large Patients
Published: May 22, 2006
TAMPA - An ambulance designed to accommodate extremely large patients now is part of the emergency vehicle fleet at Tampa Fire Rescue Station 20.
The MedicMaster ambulance, manufactured by American LaFrance Corp., is the first such unit in the city. The bariatrics ambulance cost $175,415 - about $15,000 more than a conventional ambulance - and entered service May 9.
The vehicle carries the same emergency equipment and medical supplies as all Tampa Fire Rescue ambulances, plus gear designed to accommodate heavy patients.
"It's relatively easy to operate," said Michael Fox, the lieutenant for B shift at Station 20, 16200 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
The unit carries a special stretcher that employs a battery-powered lift to ease the loading of a heavy patient. "It can lift up to a 700-pound patient," Fox said of the stretcher.
To ease the loading of patients exceeding 700 pounds, the vehicle carries a foldable metal ramp. An onboard electric winch is employed to pull the wheeled stretcher into the ambulance.
Imagine how much BEER that thing could haul.
