Improved Stretcher gear for Ambulances
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A New Design which Simplifies the Task of Loading and Un.! loading Patients. ADVANCED ideas for the quick and easy handling of patients in motor ambulances have been put forward and patented by Messrs. Southern Bros., motor engineers, St. George's Road, Bolton. One of the oldest firms of commercialvehicle agents in Lancashire, they ran the first taxicab in the town, and their motor-hire branch gradually developed until it became an important organization for the quick transit of the sick and injured to and from the infirmary, nursing homes, surgeries„etc. With the special knowledge gained in connection with this humane service, and appreciating the difficulties attendant upon sliding the patient and bed into the ambulance, especially in the case of the upper tier, the firm have evolved the Southern stretcher-gear.
This operates in connection with the usual four stretchers (two oi each side, one ab6ve the other), so
• that not only can the normal complement of four lying-down cases be carried, but, by a simple operation, the upper berths can be turned from the horizontal to the vertical positions, thus leaving the lower berths available for the accommodation of three passengers on each, all of them being comfortably seated without any obstruction about their heads;
Perhaps the most important feature of the new equipment is the simplified method of loading and unloading patients. By a telescopic action, each stretcher, or all four of them, can be withdrawn from the ambulance body. Two attendants are then quite sufficient to handle a case, either to carry the patient from the ambulance to hospital, or to slide the loaded stretcher lilt° place.
In the ease of an upper berth, which has always presented difficulty, further special apparatus is provided. The berth can be dropped and extended, through the medium of the telescopic motion mentioned, for loading, then re-drawn into the ambulance and elevated by hydraulic ram or jack. When in place, the stretcher locks automaticallY.
The accompanying illustrations show the Southern stretcher-gear used for equipping . an • ambulance body built on Austin 20 h.p. sixcylinder chassis.