# Where on earth could an IFT ambulance be driving that it would need.....



## Epi-do (Jan 3, 2011)

a brush guard on the front of it???????


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## usafmedic45 (Jan 3, 2011)

Somewhere with a lot of deer (like central Indiana)?


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## Epi-do (Jan 3, 2011)

But it is the only one I have ever noticed around here with one.


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## usafmedic45 (Jan 3, 2011)

True....


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## foxfire (Jan 3, 2011)

Maybe they are trying to be trend setters. The "first to do it" type. I don't know, just guessing.^_^


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## abckidsmom (Jan 3, 2011)

We had an agency retrofit all their ambulances with brush guards.  They never hit another deer.

Our agency, however, averages at least one a year.  The deer population is out of control in our county.


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## lightsandsirens5 (Jan 4, 2011)

abckidsmom said:


> We had an agency retrofit all their ambulances with brush guards.  They never hit another deer.
> 
> Our agency, however, averages at least one a year.  The deer population is out of control in our county.



You talk about out of control! We run about three deer hits a quarter. Thank God for rubber and tubular steel. One of out rigs has killed three deer recently, different drivers though. It has one minor dent on the left fender from part of the deer striking it as it was thrown aside. No grille or lighting damage at all. And you cant even tell the brush guard hit anything.  

Those darn rodents. I swear, the more important or expensive your vehicle is, the more bent they are on getting in front of it.


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## jjesusfreak01 (Jan 4, 2011)

usafmedic45 said:


> Somewhere with a lot of deer (like central Indiana)?



Northern Virginia. The Manassas battlefields are in a heavily populated area, but the fields and woods themselves are entirely undeveloped, leading to a few roads that are practically infested with deer. You would be lucky if you never hit one.


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## ffemt8978 (Jan 4, 2011)

They would work well on the tumbleweeds around here.  I may have to suggest this to the Chief...


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## hocomedic (Jan 4, 2011)

It could also be good for keeping birds from flying into the radiator since its got  mesh on the front of it. A bird flew into my mine last week, no damage tho because it was one of those birds the size of a golf ball.


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## usafmedic45 (Jan 4, 2011)

> Those darn rodents.



You know deer are not rodents right? LOL


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## JJR512 (Jan 4, 2011)

Perhaps they bought the ambulance used.


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## Veneficus (Jan 4, 2011)

I figured it was to push through all the potential EMS providers who just got their cert standing in front of the ambulance bay waiting for a job?


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## jjesusfreak01 (Jan 4, 2011)

Veneficus said:


> I figured it was to push through all the potential EMS providers who just got their cert standing in front of the ambulance bay waiting for a job?



Hah, I can just imagine, Paramedic hops in the truck at the beginning of each shift, pulls the truck out to the street corner and grabs a few decent looking EMTs for the day, whilst the rest head home, looking dejected.


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## usalsfyre (Jan 4, 2011)

jjesusfreak01 said:


> Northern Virginia. The Manassas battlefields are in a heavily populated area, but the fields and woods themselves are entirely undeveloped, leading to a few roads that are practically infested with deer. You would be lucky if you never hit one.



I used to commute about a 60 mile stretch of I66. One fall day I counted 27 dead deer along the way :wacko: .


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## johnrsemt (Jan 5, 2011)

Methodist bay!   I miss it.

  our trucks need the brush guard for the Antelope;   and all of our trucks but 1 are 4 wheel drive.  we go to a coverage area that has 10 miles of dirt road to get to it,  which isn't bad now that it is frozen   but no fun when it thaws and it mud.


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## AustinNative (Jan 8, 2011)

usalsfyre said:


> I used to commute about a 60 mile stretch of I66. One fall day I counted 27 dead deer along the way :wacko: .



Mmmmmm... Just think of all the delicious venison at the Station House.


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## MrBrown (Jan 8, 2011)

The fact your patient transfer service vehicles needs emergency lights is a bit worrying


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## Epi-do (Jan 8, 2011)

MrBrown said:


> The fact your patient transfer service vehicles needs emergency lights is a bit worrying



All of our transfer service trucks have emergency lights & sirens.  Our system is set up so that if there isn't a 911 ambulance in the area, a private service ambulance may be dispatched.  So, even though it doesn't happen very often, they could be dispatched to a 911 call at anytime as well.  Also, alot of times the ECFs they have contracts with will call them rather than 911 for emergency runs.


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## jjesusfreak01 (Jan 8, 2011)

MrBrown said:


> The fact your patient transfer service vehicles needs emergency lights is a bit worrying



I work for a company that does IFT in my county and emergency in a neighboring county. Its also important to note that we put EMTs on these transfer trucks under the assumption that they may need interventional care at some point. If the condition of one of these patients goes south, we flip on the lights and drive code to the nearest appropriate hospital, which we are trained to do (my company mandates EVOC for everyone). That is why we have lights.


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## Veneficus (Jan 8, 2011)

MrBrown said:


> The fact your patient transfer service vehicles needs emergency lights is a bit worrying



I get the irony.

Unfortunately it is part of the problem in the US having patient transport fall under the auspices of EMS care. 

In order to properly bill, the transport agency has to meet the criteria of an ambulance. Which is not different for emergencies or nonemergent transport.  

Best described as outdated and inefficent, it is a complex issue that boils down to money.

The solution is rather simple, do not require by law an ambulance for patient transport and don't reimburse transport at anywhere near the level of an emergency ambulance. Infact I think it should be the same rate as a taxi, because that is really what it is.

You know the US system is filled with waste.


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## lightsandsirens5 (Jan 8, 2011)

usafmedic45 said:


> You know deer are not rodents right? LOL



Yes they are. Rodent comes from the Latin word for gnaw. They sure gnaw my flowers and plants and such, so they must be rodents. 

Approximately 40% of mammals are rodents. So since 40% of mammals around here are deer, they must be rodents. 

And since you can have a rodent infestation, and we are infested with deer, they most be rodents. 


/I love nonsense reverse logic.


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## firetender (Jan 8, 2011)

*Don't you guys read the news!*

This ambulance was designed to wade through gaggles of birds, disoriented by fireworks, disease or lousy senses of directions that dive out of the sky into oblivion!


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## usalsfyre (Jan 8, 2011)

Or it's just a little cheaper to throw some paint on the brush guard than replace sheetmetal...


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## Sasha (Jan 8, 2011)

Epi-do said:


> a brush guard on the front of it???????



Anywhere a regular ambulance would have to go that they'd need a brush guard. How do you think those people get back home? Teleport? (God I wish they could!  We never go 15 miles into the woods during daylight.)


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## JJR512 (Jan 8, 2011)

Veneficus said:


> I get the irony.
> 
> Unfortunately it is part of the problem in the US having patient transport fall under the auspices of EMS care.
> 
> ...



I agree with you in general, except for the rate. It should still be more than a taxi. Although many patients being transferred do not require medical care, some still need a stretcher, therefore they need two people. They also require a vehicle designed to carry the stretcher. So the expense of two staff persons plus a larger vehicle deserves a higher billing rate than a single person driving an ordinary car.


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## TransportJockey (Jan 8, 2011)

Powered stretchers can reduce the need for a second person quite a bit. Put them in one of those Spartan N.E.A.Ts with a power stretcher and a drvier and it would be the perfect bit


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## JJR512 (Jan 8, 2011)

jtpaintball70 said:


> Powered stretchers can reduce the need for a second person quite a bit. Put them in one of those Spartan N.E.A.Ts with a power stretcher and a drvier and it would be the perfect bit



True, but a powered stretcher, in my experience, isn't always as easy for one person to handle as the hype makes them seem. Also, if it fails, two people are going to be needed. Finally, they are a lot more expensive than regular stretchers, so again, the extra cost of equipment necessitates a higher billing rate than standard taxicab service.


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## usafmedic45 (Jan 8, 2011)

> Yes they are. Rodent comes from the Latin word for gnaw. They sure gnaw my flowers and plants and such, so they must be rodents.
> 
> Approximately 40% of mammals are rodents. So since 40% of mammals around here are deer, they must be rodents.
> 
> ...



That was awesome.   BTW, if you spray orange oil (orange extract) on your gardens it may help to cut down on the deer problem.  I know several people who have used it with good results.  Apparently the deer don't like the smell.


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## usafmedic45 (Jan 8, 2011)

> We never go 15 miles into the woods during daylight



You do it a lot at night then?


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## Sasha (Jan 8, 2011)

usafmedic45 said:


> You do it a lot at night then?



I've done it about four times so far. Each time was scarier than the last. The first time I couldn't believe anyone actually lived that far into the woods and was convinced they were leading us out there to kill us and hide our bodies.

Apparently Florida has a lot of farm country.


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## usafmedic45 (Jan 8, 2011)

Yeah....especially the northern part.


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## Sasha (Jan 8, 2011)

usafmedic45 said:


> Yeah....especially the northern part.



Yup, it's usually a pretty long transport and they don't schedule it til like 5pm so by the time we actually get out there it's pitch dark and I'm in the back listening for banjos. 

The families have so far been merciful enough to let us follow them out. GPS's don't pick those places up!


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## Tanker299 (Jan 9, 2011)

Sasha said:


> by the time we actually get out there it's pitch dark and I'm in the back listening for banjos.



Thanks, now my wife thinks I'm completely mad for laughing out loud at this while having breakfast. :wacko:


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## Bon-Tech (Feb 9, 2011)

It's the new GARDA/Ambo conversion. They don't want their EMT's just sittin' around waiting for a call, so they have them pick up cash around town to keep the dept. going. 

Very popular also in Newark and in Detroit.


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## esmcdowell (Feb 28, 2011)

Almost every ambulance in MT has a bumber guard of some sort, the full brush guards are popular in the areas where its 20-30 miles of dirt roads to get to some pt's and 60+ to the nearest care facility.

As for the emergency lights on a txfr rig, we also don't differentiate between a 911 rig and a txfr rig here, all of our rigs have to be ready for any type of call.


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## Frozennoodle (Apr 12, 2011)

MrBrown said:


> The fact your patient transfer service vehicles needs emergency lights is a bit worrying



I work for IFT and we handle more than just the run of the mill dialysis calls.  We get 911 roll overs, emergency responses to our contract facilities, last week a guy rear ended a on his motorcycle going around 45 mph and sent himself flying in front my ambulance.  The patient I had with the 64/40 BP or the code I worked the other day definitely needed emergency lights.  We're not New Orleans EMS or anything but we're not taxi drivers either.


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## Sasha (Apr 12, 2011)

Frozennoodle said:


> I work for IFT and we handle more than just the run of the mill dialysis calls.  We get 911 roll overs, emergency responses to our contract facilities, last week a guy rear ended a on his motorcycle going around 45 mph and sent himself flying in front my ambulance.  The patient I had with the 64/40 BP or the code I worked the other day definitely needed emergency lights.  We're not New Orleans EMS or anything but we're not taxi drivers either.



People don't understand that not all IFT companies do dialysis transfer after dialysis transfer. We get some pretty awesome calls. And you've got an emergency transfer and flight's not flying... Who you gonna call? Ghost bus----I mean IFT.
And IFT trucks seem to be a magnet for accidents to happen in front of them.


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## katgrl2003 (Apr 12, 2011)

Sasha said:


> And IFT trucks seem to be a magnet for accidents to happen in front of them.



Why do you think my old partner nicknamed me "The Swirling Vortex of Doom"?


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## Sasha (Apr 12, 2011)

katgrl2003 said:


> Why do you think my old partner nicknamed me "The Swirling Vortex of Doom"?



I am a vortex of doom sometimes. Othertime's i'm as white as a ghost.


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## johnrsemt (Apr 12, 2011)

Come on Kat;  that was "Twirling Vortex of Doom"


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## Trevor (Apr 12, 2011)

Our new F450s have Brush gaurds... And we dont have a problem with deer...


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## medicstudent101 (Apr 12, 2011)

Methodist!!! B)


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## katgrl2003 (Apr 12, 2011)

johnrsemt said:


> Come on Kat;  that was "Twirling Vortex of Doom"



different partner


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## Artst10 (May 19, 2011)

Epi-do said:


> a brush guard on the front of it???????




I guess my first thought would be NYC or Boston maybe?


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## frdude1000 (May 19, 2011)

Maybe the unit was bought used from a field service in an area with the need for off road response?


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## usafmedic45 (May 20, 2011)

frdude1000 said:


> Maybe the unit was bought used from a field service in an area with the need for off road response?



Around here, that's about as likely as a "critical" (note:  ) trauma victim not seeing the inside of a helicopter on a sunny day in your home state.


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## johnrsemt (May 20, 2011)

Funny thing is:  our trucks don't have Brush/Animal guards:  and we have deer, elk, moose, antelope, horses (wild and tame) cows, bison, coyotes, eagles (Bald and Golden) and about every other animal you can think of.  
  Also we have 4WD ambulances and we use it.  yesterday was 34 miles in bad mud with puddles up to 3' deep.    fun trip.


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