New Fire Rescue bus fitted with life-saving technology

By Cindy Swirko
Staff writer
Published: Thursday, October 3, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 11:31 p.m.

Soon after Alachua County Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Larry Stewart made his way through black smoke and fog to the series of Interstate crashes that killed 11 and injured many more in 2012, he put out a call for Regional Transit System buses that could be used to aid the injured.

But for mass emergencies now, ACFR will have a medical ambulance bus equipped with stretchers, medicine and monitors to treat people more completely and more swiftly than was done on I-75 on Jan. 29, 2012.

“I would have loved to have had this unit out there. We had 43 people who were not going to be transported to hospitals but who needed to be treated and gotten off the road,” Stewart said. “This bus is designed to function primarily as a rehabilitation vehicle. We’ll be able to use this for a lot of situations.”

The bus, fire-engine red and built on a school bus frame but entirely for medical purposes, was obtained by ACFR through an Urban Areas Security Initiative grant to Jacksonville Fire and Rescue.

Jacksonville already has one of the vehicles. When it was asked by federal officials to host another, Jacksonville said it would and then offered it to Alachua County. The bus is valued at about $525,000 and is one of only two in Florida.

The bus can be configured for bunk space for 20 stretcher-bound patients or seating for 24. It has an onboard oxygen system of tanks and outlets, a computer for wireless monitoring of vital signs, suction equipment, a refrigerator for IV fluids and hydration drinks, and medical gear for IVs and other emergency procedures.

Pop open a hatch on the floor, and a winch can be activated to haul extremely heavy patients onto the bus, which has an integrated ramp at the back door.

Fire Rescue Capt. Charles Tannachion said the computer allows EMTs to monitor the vital signs of all patients on the bus at one time. It will be especially useful in triage situations.

“We can keep the computer in the station area, or we can take it to the bedside to input any additional information we need. It has a camera, so we take a picture to get their identity and match it up to the information,” Tannachion said. “We can bring people on the bus, start IVs on them, do what is necessary to get treatment. If we get (an ambulance) to pick them up, we can print out their trend of vital signs so the paramedic has record of it along with any medications we may have (given) them.”

Stewart said the bus can be used in a lot of different emergency situations. It can be driven to major fires as a place for firefighters to cool off and get medical care.

It can potentially be kept outside the stadium for University of Florida football games for people with medical issues who need to be monitored.

The bus also will be made available to other counties in need, either through mutual aid or through a call-up by state emergency officials.

In a state in which spring wildfires give way to summer tropical storms or hurricanes, the bus likely will get a lot of use in situations ranging from cooling off overheated firefighters to evacuating nursing homes, Stewart said.

“We are going to use it locally for rehab primarily. Firefighting in Florida, especially during the summer, is brutal. No matter how good of shape you are in, your core body temperature rises, and it is dangerous,” Stewart said. “It will be a mutual aid resource with other counties. And it will be made available to the state of Florida if other counties have a disaster. This is going to be a resource locally, regionally and for the state.”

Stewart said when the bus is requested by the state, all costs will be paid by the state.

The bus is almost 42 feet long and is narrow inside with bunks on both sides of the center aisle. Stewart said the ride is relatively comfortable compared with a fire truck — a design that will be appreciated by people with painful injuries that jolt with every little bump.

It can run self-sufficiently for 72 hours on 80 gallons of fuel for a generator.

Crews are being trained now, and the bus should be in service within two weeks. It will be based at Fire Rescue Station 17 next to Jonesville Park.

“This is not going to take the place of (ambulance) transport for the critically injured,” Stewart said. “This is for moving a bunch of folks at one time.”