Baptist Health Floyd purchases two ambulances to transport patients
Baptist Health Floyd will soon be able to transport patients with hospital-owned ambulances.
NEW ALBANY – Baptist Health Floyd will soon be able to transport patients with hospital-owned ambulances.
The two ambulances the hospital recently purchased will not respond to 911 calls, according to Keith Smith, Baptist Health System Director, Ambulance & Emergency Medical Services. Both ambulances will be owned, operated and staffed by Baptist Health employees.
The two ambulances were purchased from Global Emergency Vehicles (GEV). GEV, located in Philadelphia, has been in business since 2010 and is a leading provider in new and used ambulances, rescue vehicles and wheelchair vans in North America.
One reason it was important for the hospital to purchase the vehicles was to transport discharged patients, who require ambulance transport, in a timely manner. The ambulances will also transport patients needing continued or a higher level of care from the Baptist Health ER & Urgent Care facility, which will open this summer, to Baptist Health Floyd.
“Like most all hospitals, Baptist Health Floyd has experienced long transport delays for patients awaiting discharge,” Smith said. “Our primary function will be two fold - we will work to get all patients that have been discharged and require ambulance transport either to their homes or follow-up care facilities and to respond on any emergency transportation requests we receive from our soon-to-be opened standalone ED facility.”
Smith said the hospital having its own EMS transport team will help clear discharged patients.
“This will allow us to increase our ability to treat more patients in a time efficient manner,” he said. “Additionally, having the EMS staff within the hospital facility, we will be able to utilize their education and expertise while not performing transports within the emergency department to augment ED professionals.”
Grace Marksbury, RN, MSN, Emergency/EMS/Trauma Service Line Director for Baptist Health Floyd, said it is a win-win for the hospital.
“Adding transport ambulances to Baptist Health Floyd supports our vision to meet the needs of our patients,” she said. “Having these resources will allow us to expand our resources and capabilities to transport patients from the hospital at time of discharge.”
Each ambulance staff will consist of two Emergency Medical Technicians for Basic Life Support (BLS) transports and an Emergency Medical Technician and Paramedic for Advanced Life Support (ALS) transports.
One of the ambulances is expected to go live later this month and the second one soon after.
“This addition could not have come at a better time, with the opening of the Baptist Health freestanding emergency and urgent care in Jeffersonville,” Marksbury said. “The ambulances will give Floyd the ability to transport patients back to the main hospital campus for continued care in a timely manner.”