New ambulance, e-bikes acquired by Foxwall EMS

Foxwall EMS recently obtained a new ambulance and e-bikes designed to better serve patients and reduce EMT and paramedic fatigue.

EMS Chief Ben Shopland said the ambulance, identified as Medic 142, was licensed as an Advanced Life Support ambulance on July 15 and is fully equipped for 911 responses.

However, its primary daily use is for interfacility transports such as from hospital to hospital and from hospital to nursing home or rehab center.

“We staff that separately from our 911 truck,” Shopland said on Aug. 13. “We always have a 911 truck available, but that helps pay the bills because it’s more predictable volume. Our 911 truck averages about three calls in 24 hours. Our transport truck in 12 hours will usually do something like four to six transports. The transport truck helps pay the bills.”

The new transport’s make and model is a 2024 Type II Medix 148, Ford Transit T350ht, from Penn Care, an Ohio-based ambulance and EMS supply company.

It replaced a 2008 Chevy Kodiak, a larger box-style ambulance that is starting to nickel and dime the company with repair costs.

“We would only use it as a spare,” Shopland said. “Now we have three reliable ambulances, so we can have them all out doing things at the same time. It’s a 2008, so it was getting harder and harder to find parts for it.”

Foxwall EMS has a 2021 box-style and a 2024 box-style ambulance. The latter being purchased last year with the help of Fox Chapel and Aspinwal (Foxwall EMS primarily serves both). It also responds to multiple mutual aid calls in neighboring towns.

Some of the features on the new transport include a backup camera, full-body harnesses for medial personnel safety, a Powerload system to raise, lower and load stretchers more easily and it is all-wheel drive.

Shopland said, fortunately, much of the medical equipment in the old ambulance, including the stretcher, stairchair and cardiac monitor, was previously replaced and able to be moved to the new ambulance without additional costs typically associated with replacing a unit.

The transport truck will be used at community events where the increased maneuverability and fuel efficiency of a smaller unit are valuable.

Total cost is about $178,000, including $130,000 for the ambulance and $48,000 for the Powerload system and four-year service plan.

The company received a $9,090 grant from the Allegheny-Kiski Health Foundation on behalf of the state Department of Human Services to offset the cost of the Powerload system.

The grant funding was obtained with support from state Sen. Lindsey Williams.

E-bikes

Foxwall EMS, earlier this month, received two Velotric Nomad e-bikes from The Bike Lab in Plum.

They are the same bikes used by Plum EMS at the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.

“When were were looking into what kind of bikes to get, we knew they had used bikes up there,” Shopland said. “We reached out to see how they had liked them. They said they worked great for what they did. They got different medical bags than we did, but the same bikes.”

The purchase price was $3,560 and was covered by a $3,600 grant from the Console Cares Foundation.

New uniforms, Lumos e-bike helmets and Meret bicycle medical bags were also purchased via $1,719 grant from the District Association of the Fox Chapel Area.

Shopland said the high-visibility uniforms and lighted helmets ensure the safety of bike team members, and the new medical bags include a designated space for oxygen and other equipment, increasing the bike team’s capabilities from first aid to true EMS-level care.

Lt. Ethan Puskas is credited with writing the grants for the e-bikes, their maintenance and supplies, as well as coordinating Foxwall’s bike team. About a dozen staffers have been trained so far in responding on two wheels to incidents.

The bikes can travel up to 30 mph and can go about 75 miles on a single charge, depending on pedaling and terrain.

Puskas said the bikes will help emergency responders get to people at events like marathons quickly and provide better care. He referenced an incident in which medics on mountain bikes had to get to someone at the Pittsburgh Marathon.

“We had a case this year where someone went down inside a subway station, like five blocks away from where we were stationed at,” Puskas said. “By the time we got there, we were both out of breath just from pedaling around. These have a lot more flexibility in that you can put more stuff on them. The speed is obviously way higher and you get on scene less fatigued.”

The new uniforms also make the bike medics more visible.

Puskas thanked the District Association and Console Cares for making the bike purchase possible.

“A lot of these are competitive grants,” Puskas said. “We’re not the only ones applying for them. We’re not guaranteed to get them. We have to make the case that we need them. … Without the grants, this would not have happened. I can tell you that definitively. At least not any time soon, just because there’s a lot more things in the day-to-day operations we have to spend that money on.”

Shopland said the new vehicles have given the department morale a boost.

“Folks really seem happy with them,” he said. “Everybody who’s done their training and ridden on the bikes so far has said they are a lot of fun to ride. The van is really comfortable to drive. It’s maneuverable, especially for our inner-facility runs that are more likely to go into the city (of Pittsburgh) or through the city. Narrower streets, parking different places, it’s a lot easier to maneuver than a big ambulance. It’s really about having the right tool for the job.”

Future projects

Future projects at Foxwall EMS include roof replacement, flooring, upgrading the squad SUV cardiac monitor and getting new video laryngoscopes, a tool to place a breathing tube.

The company has 39 staffers, including 10 volunteers.

Subscription drive reminders are expected to be mailed within the coming weeks. The subscription covers 100% of a patient’s out-of-pocket transportation costs.

More information is available at foxwall.org.