Understanding Ambulances: Equipment and Maintenance
The ambulance is something of an evergreen provision in healthcare, with various iterations of the emergency transport solution appearing as part of structured healthcare systems throughout history. Today, the ambulance is nothing short of a modern marvel – and achieves much more than a relatively safe form of hospital transport.
Contemporary ambulances are complex machines, with equipment and devices that utilize technological advancements to provide world-class healthcare and medical interventions on the move. EMTs are the lifeblood of US healthcare, responding to over 37 million call-outs each year and doing so with an average response time of just seven minutes.
But the ‘Technician’ part of ‘Emergency Medical Technician’ is a wider responsibility than may be seen at first glance. The complexity of the contemporary ambulance makes maintenance a vital part of the equation, from the medical equipment installed to the ambulance vehicle itself. What are the essential aspects of an ambulance to understand and maintain?
Vehicle Safety
A crucial part of the equation is the safe and effective maintenance of the vehicle itself. As well as a carrier of life-saving implements and equipment, the ambulance is essentially a transport van – and unsuitability for transport purposes renders its life-saving capabilities somewhat moot.
Tires are a common concern for regular maintenance. Ambulance tires should be kept at a pressure of around 85 PSI – and checked regularly for signs of tread wear. Ambulance suspension systems are bespoke, designed as they are to enable EMTs to perform medical procedures without too much unnecessary risk to the patient; these should be checked regularly for safety reasons.
Lights and Sirens
An ambulance’s lights and sirens are perhaps its most recognizable features. They are also vital to safe passage through traffic, allowing EMT drivers to drive swiftly and allowing other drivers to make ample room. Alarm sirens need to be checked regularly to ensure they are working as expected, as does the light system. Weekly checks should be undertaken for alarm effectiveness, with a maintenance log for checking potential gremlins against historic ambulance behavior.
Equipment and Supplies
EMTs receive comprehensive training in the use and maintenance of ambulance medical equipment throughout their extensive studies. Complex and high-value items such as defibrillators and ECG machines require constant calibration and maintenance to operate effectively; a poorly-calibrated machine could be the difference between life and death.
Simpler devices such as the gurney require less frequent intervention, but they should nonetheless be checked before use to ensure the hydraulics still work as they should. Supplies, meanwhile, should be monitored at the start and end of every shift. Ambulances should never be short of stock when it comes to basic items such as bandages, IV drips, and penicillin; stock should be rotated and kept to a specific, standardized level.
