Ohio EMS gets grant-funded power cots

By Joseph Pratt
The Portsmouth Daily Times

PORTER TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Porter Township Emergency Rescue updated the cot and loading system in one of their emergency vehicles last week, ensuring a speedier and more reliable response to the scenes of accidents and emergencies.

The new cots are beneficial in a few ways, from the reduction of the tax dollars spent, to a smoother response and a beneficial sale to Collins Career Center.

Supervisor Franki Mays has been with Porter Rescue for over 20 years and played a major role in securing the finances for the new technology.

“The new technology we received includes two power cots and a new loading system,” Mays said. “We got these new cots to help with lowering down worker’s comp rates and any kind of injury to our employees. These devices will really help in lifting and securing our patients in a more time efficient manner.”

Mays said the process has been ongoing since last October and arose when the Bureau of Worker’s Compensation (BWC) brought up a grant that would pay for the majority of the update.

“We worked with two great guys from the BWC and they brought it all up and helped us fill out all of the paperwork,” Mays said. “We had to work on some narratives and stuff like that, but it wasn’t too bad. It was definitely time consuming, but that is just how anything is.”

Mays said the squad has been testing out the cots and is eager to put them to action.

“The new cots are going to definitely make things a lot easier. Our current cots are rated at 700 pounds and load system is rated for over that. Now, we can have two people lift a 500 or 600 pound person, whereas before we would have to call up aid and backup. For safety’s sake, we won’t try to lift with only two people there, but it is still reassuring to know it can be done if it had to,” Mays said.

Mays said the new system cost around $54,000 and $40,000 of it was paid by the grant received by the BWC.

The Porter Township Board of Trustees met at their regularly scheduled Board meeting August 4 and voted to allow Porter Rescue to sale one of their old cots to Collins Career Center for $800. This gives the Porter Rescue money back into their general fund and gives Collins an affordable piece of equipment to train students with.

“I think it is great when we can help out a school that is training our EMT’s and future medics, it definitely pays off,” Mays said.

While the new cots benefit a variety of people, those mostly affected by the new purchase are the residents of Porter who will be receiving care with the new technology.

“I think the residents of Porter should be more confident in their security. They can be comfortable knowing the cots we have will give them a smoother ride and smoother load for them,” Mays said.

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©2014 The Portsmouth Daily Times (Portsmouth, Ohio)