# What is a cot "Hot Drop"?



## Markhk (Jul 23, 2008)

I've heard a lot of cot marketing these days from Styker and Monster Medic about how their cots won't "HOT DROP". I use a H-Frame cot on my ambulance so I'm not really familiar with the term. 

What exactly is a hot drop? 

And does anyone have a term for when you pull the cot out of the ambulance without a safety hook, and the cot wheels don't deploy so the cot comes crashing to the floor? (Other than "OH #@##!!!")


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## Grady_emt (Jul 23, 2008)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that they are referring to the powered stretchers.  These are the ones where you press a button and the frame compresses or expands.   Seemingly a "Hot Drop" would be on a traditional stretcher where the frame "freefalls" from the unit without having to press a button and wait for the mechanics to lower the frame.


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## MMiz (Jul 23, 2008)

Like Grady, I assume a "hot drop" is when you drop the undercarriage/wheels of a traditional stretcher without having someone there to softly lower them down.

How does your ambulance not have a safety hook?  I'm fairly certain that they are standard equipment on most cot packages.


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## daedalus (Jul 23, 2008)

A hot drop is when you pull the triggers on the gurney while unloading and you let the wheels fly to the ground without someone guiding them. Its bad for the gurney, a poor practice for a professional, and looks and sounds (loud) bad. Most companies prohibit this practice.


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## mikeylikesit (Jul 23, 2008)

so don't drop it like it's hot then. i do it all the time because i am inpatient...i do however try to avoid it whenever possible.


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## Jon (Jul 23, 2008)

A hot drop, depending on the use, is either:
~Dropping the wheels when taking the stretcher out of the truck, without using a 2nd person to lower them. This is bad for the cot, because it strains the lowering mechanism.

The stryker power cot has a gas strut that lets you slowly lower the undercarriage... I'm not sure about everyone else.

~Dropping the stretcher with a load on it (like a patient), where the undercarriage release is activated without crew being ready to lower it... this results in the cot rapidly dropping... perhaps injuring patient and/or crew.

In Manual cots:
Stryker's have a mechanism that doesn't let the cot lower until you lift the weight off the undercarriage. MonsterMedic is supposed to have a slightly better system... I'm not sure about Ferno.


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