Community project funding/congressionally directed spending - construction - our current ambulance stretcher fleet consists of a variety of ages of units, dating as far back as 2010

Making some of our stretchers 12 years old, which is 5 years older than the expected service life of this equipment. With our increase in call volume, and continued challenges in hiring, this is putting stress on our aging products. We are requesting funding for nineteen (19) power-load ambulance fasteners and nineteen (19) power-pro 2 ambulance COTS. The nineteen new powered systems will specifically impact the community response by: - limiting the number of responders needed to load the patient - - loading obese patients will be easier and not require additional resources - power-pro 2 true 700 LB unassisted lift and power-load 870 LB working load. - protecting responders from back injuries - vital with the lack of caregivers available due to staff shortages. - improving the recruitment and retention of responders utilizing state of the art loading systems. - eliminating the need to "catch the hook," when using power-load system in powered mode, mitigating the risk of patient drops - helping to protect our community and caregivers. Additionally, our current fleet only offers a manual loading option. Manual loading into an ambulance requires at least two caregivers to lift the weight of the patient, stretcher, and additional equipment into the vehicle. In doing this, the caregivers must manually catch the ambulance "hook." this results in risk of injury to both the caregiver and the patients, as well as liability to the county. For this reason, the majority of EMS providers throughout the state have acquired equipment that can reduce this risk. Along with the chance of missing the hook, the manual system requires close contact to potential covid 19 patients, putting our county first responders at increased risk of exposure. This increased risk is both dangerous to the health of our caregivers, but also can reduce staff avail ability during quarantine, putting the community at risk of increased time for ambulances to arrive to emergencies. This project would be completed in phases as the equipment and vehicles are available for upgrade. Our current fleet would be able to be turned over in less than 30 days barring any equipment or shipping delays, work shortages or unexpected challenges that may delay installation.