Reasons to Switch to Foam for Your Ambulance
What are the benefits of a Shark-Co Manufacturing customized foam organization system for your ambulance? If you ask Kevin Fitchey, paramedic with the White River Township Fire Department, he’ll enthusiastically tell you, “We save money, we save time, and most importantly, we provide better patient care.”
Fitchey wasn’t convinced when he first saw Shark-Co’s products at an EMS event at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. “I rolled my eyes and thought, ‘what a way to make an ambulance fancy.’ But I took the brochures, and my Deputy Chief contacted Monica Sharkey to learn more. Once we started the ordering process, I realized what a valuable addition to our trucks these organizers would be.”
Shark-Co worked with White River to design a system exactly to their specifications. “We had a lot of interactions,” stated Fitchey. “This was in no way a one-size-fits-all solution. They measured all of our cabinets, drawers, equipment, and supplies, and created a 3-D plan for each of our trucks. They accommodated all of our needs.”
Cost savings is a major benefit of Shark-Co organizing systems. “Everything we carry has its own place. Now we can look at our trucks and immediately see what we have and what we don’t have. It makes it easy to keep par at level; we don’t over-order, so we save money. Supplies don’t expire unused in the back of some cabinet because we didn’t know they were there. They’re right up front where we need them, when we need them.”
That readiness saves time, as well, according to Fitchey. “It used to take at least 25 minutes to count our truck down. Now we can visually inspect it and get our truck back up to level par in under 10.” Even more important, however, is the time the team saves when responding to a call. “I have saved precious time not having to search for sizes or dosages. I can lay my hands on them immediately.”
That means better patient care and improved safety. “It used to be that I had to hunt for airway equipment adjuncts or ET tubes. Now everything is right where I need it. I can see it and put my hands on it. It makes my job easier, and I can do it more efficiently. For our medications, every vial has its own hole. This provides another level of safety beyond color-coding, reducing the chances of choosing the wrong medication or dosage.”
Fitchey shared another benefit of the Shark-Co organizing system: professionalism. “We actually had a patient compliment us. She said, ‘Wow! You’ve got a really nice truck. You guys are really organized.’ That says a lot about us, I think. We are professionals, and it means a lot when our patients recognize that.”