UMC’s New ‘Ambulance Bus’ Transports Dust Storm Accident Victims

Twelve people involved in Wednesday afternoon’s I-27 pile up north of the airport were brought to University Medical Center to be treated, but not in ambulances. They were transported in their new ‘mass casualty bus.’

This is the first time UMC has used the bus, also known as an ‘ambulance bus’ or an ‘am bus.’

It’s used to bring multiple people at one time to the hospital from the scene of an accident so ambulances don’t have to go back and forth transporting patients.

The bus is only one of 13 in the state of Texas and UMC spokesperson Eric Finley said today was the appropriate time to use it.

“That is something that is pretty new to UMC,” Finley said. “That is something that came in the last couple of months. It is a mobile hospital for lack of a better word. It’s an ambulance bus we cal it ‘am bus’ for short. It can hold about 20 people. It can perform triage and minor medical services there on site and then transport hose people back to the hospital all in one unit.”
UMC said all 17 injured were treated for minor to moderate injuries and sent home.