FLORENCE — A huge weight has been lifted off of Florence County’s Emergency Medical Services employees.
Earlier this year, the county purchased 10 powered ambulance cots, which are powered by a hydraulic system that raises and lowers a patient with the touch of a button. The cots were purchased in an effort to reduce lifting injuries among EMS workers.
“We were using manual ambulance stretchers so they were manually lifting each and every patient,” Florence County Risk Manager Tony Lewis said. “Obesity has become a national problem, so a lot of the patients they lift are obese. As a result, over the last three years, we’ve had about 10 lifting injuries a year. Shoulder injuries, back injuries, knee injuries, and some have been disabling injuries where people couldn’t return to work.”
The cots were built to accommodate up to 700 pounds. EMS employees still have to lift the patient onto the stretcher, but Lewis said in most cases, a patient is somewhat able to assist the EMS worker in that process.
County officials applied for grants to cover the cost of the cots, which run about $10,000 apiece, Lewis said, but the grant did not come through. Through salary savings and budget adjustments at EMS, however, the county was able to make the purchases. Lewis said though costly, the investment was worth it because such lifting injuries cost the county — and, ultimately, the taxpayers — dollars and time.
“It saves us in lost time of employees being out of work because of injuries and in worker’s compensation payouts,” Lewis said. “From January to July, we had two minor lifting injuries, but since we put in the powered stretchers July 1, we haven’t had a single injury. It’s saving the county money, and it’s keeping our employees healthy.”
Florence County EMS Director Ryon Watkins agreed and said his employees are healthier and happier with the battery-operated cots.
“These cots are rapidly becoming the industry standard in EMS,” Watkins said. “The county made this investment with the hopes of reducing the number of injuries, the severity of injuries and the expense accrued due to Worker’s Comp claims, and the effort is working. Our population appears to be becoming more obese, and it puts a lot less wear and tear on our employees to have hydraulics to lift rather than their backs and shoulders.”
The county hopes to equip the remaining three ambulances in the EMS fleet with the powered stretchers within the next one or two years, Watkins said.
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