Ambulances have come a long way since they first came about in Victorian Britain. Back then, they were a simple horse drawn carriage to carry the sickest of patients to their local hospital. Today however they are not only a lot faster, but also have a wealth of equipment on board which paramedics can use to keep someone alive on their trip to hospital, as well as treating people at the scene.
An ambulance is in fact like a small hospital, containing an arsenal of life saving machinery that has to go through medical equipment calibration by someone like Medi-cal to keep it ever ready to respond to an emergency situation. Here are some of the things that you will find in the back of a modern ambulance…
Spinal Trauma Board – These are used in the event of a possible spinal injury. This board contains straps to keep the patient perfectly still and your spine in a straight line whilst you are in the ambulance. They often will also use a head immobiliser too, to keep everything where it should be on the journey to hospital.
Ventilators – We have heard a lot about the use of ventilators in the past year and there is no doubt that they are a lifesaving piece of equipment. These are effective life support machines and have saved many lives – because timing is often of the essence in an emergency a ventilator in an ambulance can mean the difference between life and death.
Defibrillator – Something most of us will have seen on medical drama shows, a defibrillator is a vital piece of equipment for people who have suffered a heart attack. An ambulance having one of these means that the heart can be re-started before going into hospital, something that is a real lifesaver.
