It took just one or two ambulance runs last week to prove the Sleepy Eye Ambulance Service’s new Stryker Power Pro cot is a keeper.
Not only was the hydraulic-lift cot easy to use, it was easier on the EMTs’ backs. “This will save on the wear and tear on EMTs,” ambulance coordinator Shari Hittesdorf said. “The hydraulic does all the work.
“It’s a sturdier cot too,” she added. “The new cot is not any more comfortable for our patients than the old one was, but we do the best we can.”
Besides the benefit of the hydraulic lift, the new cot boasts a weight capacity of 700 pounds, 200 pounds more than could previously be safely handled. According to Hittesdorf, handling heavier people has become more and more common. “Realistically, people are not getting smaller (weightwise),” Hittesdorf said.
Hittesdorf said half the cost of the cot was covered through a safety grant from the Minnesota Department of Labor. Donations also had a part in paying for the new cot.
One of the donors, Anita Kopitzke of Sleepy Eye, has been donating the proceeds from the sale of brewed “free-trade” coffee in her salon, Creative Hair Design. Her donation is ongoing but, thus far, about $250 has been raised for the ambulance service’s benefit.
For now, only one of the service’s two ambulances is equipped with a Stryker Power Pro. Hittesdorf said it will be a while before a second hydraulic cot can be added.
In the meantime, the ambulance service is awaiting the arrival of its new ambulance sometime late this summer.
As for other things the ambulance service needs, “We are always looking for new recruits to work as EMTs,” Hittesdorf said.
Anyone interested in joining the Sleepy Eye Ambulance Service can contact Hittesdorf at 794-3116.