Ambulance stretcher compatibility

[Rollie Parrish <rparrish@flightweb.com>]

Looking for information regarding liability in regards to exchanging
different stretcher models between vehicles. 

We use the Ferno-28 in our EC135s. An ambulance service that transports us
from an LZ to a hospital in their town has offered to just switch out our
stretchers to their ambulance rather than moving the patient back and
forth between stretchers. However, their stretcher is a Stryker Rugged
stretcher. Of course the mounting system is completely different, but it
appears to "work well in the back of their ambulance and saves an extra
transfer."

However, the ambulance service in our base city (A Multi-national Rescue
service) will not do this for liability concerns. In fact, half their
fleet is one brand or the other and even though the mounting mechanisms
are similar and appear compatible, they won't exchanges stretchers between
their own vehicles, let alone load our helicopter stretcher.

If anyone has any information or experience with this issue, please let me
know. I'd like to know if this is a valid liabilty concern or if it's
common practice to exchange stretchers between vehicles around the
country. 

Thanks in advance.

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Rollie Parrish					rparrish@flightweb.com
FlightWeb: For Air Medical Professionals	http://www.flightweb.com