The ambulance provider for Fort Worth, Texas is swapping out all of it's vehicles for larger, sturdi скачать в хорошем качестве

The ambulance provider for Fort Worth, Texas is swapping out all of it's vehicles for larger, sturdi

(18 Mar 2011) HEADLINE: AS WE GET BIGGER, SO DO AMBULANCES... As we get bigger, so do ambulances CAPTION: The ambulance provider for Fort Worth, Texas is swapping out all of its vehicles for larger, sturdier ones that can carry heavier patients. They say it was necessary to protect the safety and even dignity of people they transport who could no longer fit on traditional stretchers. AND WERE SO HEAVY THEY PUSHED THE AMBULANCE OVER IT'S WEIGHT LIMIT... NB. THIS IS A VOICEOVER TRANSCRIPT, NOT A FULL SHOT LIST "What we are looking at here is a specially designed ambulance stretcher designed to carry patients larger, this particular stretcher can carry up to 850 pounds.." [VOICE-OVER] MATT ZAVADSKY IS A SUPERVISOR WITH MEDSTAR THE AMBULANCE COMPANY FOR FORT WORTH TEXAS... [SOT/Matt Zavadsky/EMT] "I've been in ems for 31 years I can tell you the patients I see today, just like the human race are growing... [VOICE-OVER]--GRAPHIC ACCORDING TO THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL IN 1980 WHEN ZAVADSKY STARTED JUST 15 PERCENT OF AMERICANS WERE OBESE AND 1.4 PERCENT EXTREMELY OBESE. BY 2006 MORE THAN 35 PERCENT OF US WERE OBESE AND 6 PERCENT EXTREMELY OBESE.... [VOICE-OVER] THAT MEANS HEAVIER PEOPLE FOR EMT'S TO RESCUE, WHICH MEANS HEAVIER DUTY EQUIPMENT IS NEEDED.. [SOT/Matt Zavadsky/EMT] "The cot also has ringlets that you see in the front, we have winches in the ambulance on the ramps so we can electrically winch the patient safely, carefully from this position all the way up into the ambulance." [VOICE-OVER] EVEN THE REGULAR STRETCHER PARAMEDICS USE HAS BEEN ADAPTED. [SOT/Matt Zavadsky/EMT] "We can take this buckle, buckle it in to this side and now we have a much larger strap we can keep someone on the stretcher." [SOT/Donny Claxton/overweight] "next thing i had 8 burly firemen lifting me off that one bed..." [VOICE-OVER] DONNY CLAXTON KNOWS WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE STUFFED ONTO ONE OF THOSE STRETCHERS.. HE'S STRUGGLED HIS ENTIRE ADULT LIFE WITH WEIGHT.. TWO YEARS AGO CLAXTON DROVE HIMSELF TO A DR'S OFFICE WHEN HE THOUGHT HE WAS HAVING A HEART ATTACK... HE REMEMBERS SEEING FEAR IN THE DR'S EYES, BUT NOT ABOUT HIS HEART... [SOT/Donny Claxton/overweight] "The nurses and Dr. were scared to death of me falling on the floor and not being able to get back on the table, pardon the pun it's a huge problem." [VOICE-OVER] A PROBLEM SO BIG IN FACT THAT MEDSTAR IS REPLACING EVERY SINGLE ONE OF IT'S AMBULANCES. GOING WITH A BEEFIER MODEL THAT CAN HANDLE MORE WEIGHT. [SOT/Matt Zavadsky/EMT] "Giving us another 800 pounds of oxygen tanks, cardiac monitors, and quite frankly people." [VOICE-OVER] ZAVADSKY SAYS IT'S THE ONLY WAY MEDSTAR CAN ENSURE THE SAFETY OF IT'S EMPLOYEES AND PATIENTS WHEN RUNNING EMERGENCY CALLS. [SOT/Matt Zavadsky/EMT] "The last thing we want to happen is to go over the gross vehicle weight of the truck and not be able to stop at an intersection or take a turn that's gonna cause people to get thrown around in the back of the ambulance.." [VOICE-OVER] MEDSTAR HOPES TO HAVE IT'S ENTIRE FLEET REPLACED BY THE END OF THE YEAR. RICH MATTHEWS ASSOCIATED PRESS FORT WORTH TEXAS... Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...