Low Top Sprinter Type II

[NomadicMedic]

The patient who starts to vomit during transport? The patient who crashes during transport? The patient who randomly starts seizing during transport? The patient who goes bat **** crazy during transport?

Inside of a normal sized type 2 ambulance the only thing I can reach while I have my seatbelt on if I am in the bench seat is anything that I have placed in the "gutter". The only way I can even have my monitor in arms reach is if I leave it unsecured at the very front of the bench seat.

If I sit in the jump seat/airway seat then I can reach 2 cabinets and the patients head but nothing else.

Did you read the article? It's a whole new redesign with everything within arms reach of the medic.
Of course you can't stay seated in a current ambulance. They are not designed that way.

I have to constantly get up and get things from the cabinets to manage a patient. It's a huge safety issue. But imagine if everything was within reach once the patient was loaded and all you had to do was open a drawer or cabinet and never have to get up...

 

[DesertMedic66]

For those, if they're serious enough, your partner should be pulling over to help, no? For #1, most of the time - here is a vomit bag. For #2, unless it's status epilepticus, are we really going to do anything but monitor? For #3, fair enough - I don't usually transport psychs that are *that* unstable...





These are human factor engineering/design issues with Type IIs as they are right now - this isn't an issue (as much, anyway) abroad. Wouldn't you agree that it is optimal to be seated?

#1 Vomit bags are stored on the back of the gurney or by the wall mounted suction unit, both of which require me to get up.

#2 if they are still seizing by the time I have gotten my narcs out of the locked cabinet then they are going to be getting some Versed.

#3 I have had my fair share of psych patients or patients under arrest who have gone completely insane in the back of the ambulance.

 

[DesertMedic66]

Did you read the article? It's a whole new redesign with everything within arms reach of the medic.
Of course you can't stay seated in a current ambulance. They are not designed that way.

I have to constantly get up and get things from the cabinets to manage a patient. It's a huge safety issue. But imagine if everything was within reach once the patient was loaded and all you had to do was open a drawer or cabinet and never have to get up...

I have read the article and have looked at several proposed designs. In my mind I can not picture anyway everything will be in reach. There will always be objects that are out of reach

 

[EpiEMS]

#1 Vomit bags are stored on the back of the gurney or by the wall mounted suction unit, both of which require me to get up.

#2 if they are still seizing by the time I have gotten my narcs out of the locked cabinet then they are going to be getting some Versed.

#3 I have had my fair share of psych patients or patients under arrest who have gone completely insane in the back of the ambulance.

Fair enough - I certainly can't speak to #2.

There will always be objects that are out of reach

I agree that this is plausible - but it is not necessarily true.

 

[NysEms2117]

In my opinion i have to agree with @DesertMedic66, i find it hard to believe that they can make an ambulance that has everything in reach. With that being said, i think that if they can get 75% of the gear needed within reach, i'll take that. Or prioritize gear for the most "common" calls, put that within arms reach so the *majority* of the time we can be strapped in ect. All in all, great idea It has my support, i just dont think its 100% plausible, I'd love for it to happen and prove me wrong though. Often times we forget about the little things that can make us(the provider) unsafe.

 

[NomadicMedic]

The King County Medic One trucks have a great set up. Everything is in drawers by the airway seat. Tons of room in those trucks. We had a very similar medic unit at the Fire Department I was working at and I wished that every ambulance was set up that way. Braun Northwest is who builds them.

 

[agregularguy]

The King County Medic One trucks have a great set up. Everything is in drawers by the airway seat. Tons of room in those trucks. We had a very similar medic unit at the Fire Department I was working at and I wished that every ambulance was set up that way. Braun Northwest is who builds them.

MEDIC out in Charlotte is like that. They are replacing all their trucks with new ones, designed like this. But the drawers are all on the side, where the bench would normally be, and in place of a bench it's a single swiveling seat with all the drawers. It's a pretty neat design. They have a few videos on their facebook page, but none of them show off the interior.

 

[Tigger]

I have read the article and have looked at several proposed designs. In my mind I can not picture anyway everything will be in reach. There will always be objects that are out of reach

Which is expected. Some calls you just won't be able to sit down. But the goal is for 90% of transports, and it is possible. We have one truck presently setup as such. IV supplies, meds, oxygen, and the monitor are all in arms reach. What else do you need for 90% of the transports? Oh and there's a tablet mount too.

 

[DesertMedic66]

You guys must all be some tall SOB haha. No way in heck am I going to be able to grab anything out of the upper cabinets without standing up haha

 

[RocketMedic]

I like how Fraziers are conceptually designed, but the lack of real internal storage is not something I like. Personally, on calls I might need something, I leave it out before I start transporting, and I am a fan of working out of the bags on critical calls and leaving those kind-of secured.

 

[EpiEMS]

You guys must all be some tall SOB haha. No way in heck am I going to be able to grab anything out of the upper cabinets without standing up haha

I'm short (25th percentile for US men), so I can empathize. We should be designing ambulances to fit - like the military does - the 5th percentile woman to the 95th percentile man, so that everybody can stay seated and belted 99% of the time.


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[RocketMedic]

I'm short (25th percentile for US men), so I can empathize. We should be designing ambulances to fit - like the military does - the 5th percentile woman to the 95th percentile man, so that everybody can stay seated and belted 99% of the time.


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Speaking as someone who has used many military ambulances, it never quite works out that way

 

[EpiEMS]

Speaking as someone who has used many military ambulances, it never quite works out that way

Didn't realize that - I (incorrectly) assumed that the DOD generally enforced such standards...fair enough, though I think the underlying point is not unreasonable.

 

[Tigger]

Meh it's pretty reachable regardless of height, my 5' 6" partner doesn't have much problem. The point still stands, it is possible to design and ambulance where it is possible to be seated for 90% of transports.