A $43,500 purchase could cut down on the number of calls for firefighters to help load patients into ambulances and cut the time it takes to get them to the hospital.
Assisting paramedics in lifting patients makes up a significant number of calls answered by the Moultrie Fire Department -- about 10 percent last year. In 2018, out of 718 total calls firefighters were dispatched solely to provide lifting assistance 76 times.
In contrast, there were only 32 fire calls for the year. Another 231 were medical calls, some of which involved lifting.
On Tuesday Colquitt County Commission agreed to purchase two self-loading stretchers at a cost of $43,052.
That could cut down on calls for firefighters to help with lifting patients into ambulances, but even more important shave time off the time it takes to get patients to the care of doctors, Moultrie Fire Chief Lamar Plymel said.
Stretchers themselves are fairly heavy, he said, and when a patient is 200 pounds or more it can be a tough job for two paramedics to get them into the ambulance. In cases where patients are alert they can help get onto the stretcher but not in getting loaded up.