Ind. board approves purchase of new ambulance equipment

By Ken de la Bastide
The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.

ANDERSON, Ind. — The Anderson Board of Public Safety has approved the purchase of six Stryker Power Load patient assistance systems.

The Safety Board on Monday approved the purchase with 90% of the funding coming from a federal grant.

The board also approved a $2,500 contract with Hoosier Fire Equipment to install the equipment on the department’s ambulances.

The sixth Stryker Power Load system will be installed by the company currently refurbishing one of the department’s ambulances at no cost.

The Anderson Fire Department's current equipment requires firefighters to physically lift people onto a gurney, up and down flights of stairs and then onto the back of an ambulance. AFD ambulances make approximately 10,000 medical transports annually.

The Fire Department was awarded a $183,163 grant from the Department of Homeland Security Assistance to Firefighters. The city is providing 10% of the amount, $18,316, for the six patient assistance systems.

Fire Chief Dave Cravens said the new equipment should reduce the number of back and shoulder injuries to firefighters and EMTs who lift the gurneys to transport patients.

The new gurneys will also increase patient safety because they are stabilized and more secure when being loaded into an ambulance.

Cravens expects the new equipment will be delivered within four to six weeks.

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©2019 The Herald Bulletin (Anderson, Ind.)