A new Ferno INX power cot is part of the Milford Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department’s ambulance.
Milford residents continue to benefit from an anonymous donation made more than four years ago—this time in the form of new rescue equipment.
The Milford Volunteer Fire Department received a new power cot in February, thanks to $42,000 from the donor.
Milford Rescue Chief Troy Pickerill said the rescue department applied for the funds from the Community Betterment Committee, which was set up to manage the city’s $1.6 million portion of the $6.85 million donation that was distributed among nine different entities in Milford in 2014.
“We went in front of the committee and gave reasons why we needed this cot,” Pickerill said. “This was a great opportunity for us to try and obtain another cot.”
The cot is the second power cot the rescue department has purchased. Half the cost of the first cot also was paid for with Betterment funds.
With two of them, Pickerill said both of the department’s ambulances now have the same equipment.
“It’s more or less for safety and so that the squads are identical. We wanted to make it convenient for new people and for veterans,” he said.
The department rotates its ambulances every three months so that each vehicle gets about the same amount of use and one isn’t left sitting for a long period of time.
The power cot is similar to a regular gurney, only it’s motorized. Once a patient is positioned and secured on the cot, a rescuer can use a one-handed control panel to raise, lower or tilt the cot, fold up its legs and wheels and operate lights along the sides.
The cot locks into a track on the floor of the ambulance—a Department of Transportation regulation—to keep it from moving during transport and to make it easier for rescuers to slide the patient into the ambulance.
The cot makes it possible for smaller EMTs to lift larger patients—up to 700 pounds—without injuring their backs and shoulders.
Pickerill said the department is caught up on purchases for the foreseeable future.
“We’re pretty well equipped,” he said. “Thanks to the Betterment Committee and the City of Milford for letting us purchase this new cot.”
Additionally, the department was to hold a training session May 8 with Dr. Robert Wergin of Memorial Health Care Systems and Sgt. Mike Vance of the Seward County Sheriff’s Department on identifying different types of narcotics while responding to calls.
Pickerill said EMTs will soon become certified to administer naloxone, an FDA-approved antidote to opioids, when responding to calls for drug overdoses.
