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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
New powered stretchers could save paramedics' backs
The province is testing new power-lift stretchers that could relieve paramedics’ back pain and extend their careers.
This morning, health authorities demonstrated one of eight new power lift stretchers that will be tested in Winnipeg and by the Southern Regional Health Authority.
The eight new stretchers cost $150,000. The cost of a standard stretcher is about $4,000.
It would cost between $3 million and $8 million to replace all stretchers in the province’s fleet of 175 ambulances, Health Minister Theresa Oswald said. The difference in cost would depend on the model chosen and whether ambulances would need to be modified.
"We are taking a very careful approach to make sure the technology lives up to its promise," Oswald said of the pilot project.
She said if the province commits to replacing all its ambulance stretchers, it would do so in stages.
Paramedics say that patients have got increasingly heavier in recent decades. Meanwhile, attendants also taking an increasing number of calls per shift. It’s not uncommon for paramedics to miss work because of back problems, they say.
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