Haliburton County Emergency Servies are getting the go-ahead to buy power cots from County Council.
At the first official meeting of Haliburton County Council, the Director of Emergency Services Tim Waite asked council for approval to go forward with the purchasing of three power cots in 2019 to go with the two that were ordered this year.
Waite details the cost of getting the cots will have a $70,000 including tax impact on the 2019 budget discussions. 50 per cent of the cost is expected to be recovered over the lifetime of the cots through the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. According to Waite, the reasoning for the pre-budgetary consideration is so that they can get the cots for the cost noted by the manufacturer. Waite explains if they don’t buy them before 2019 the price will go up.
Waite says the power cots they have already have been very well received already, he says they have been a “tremendous asset” and the beds have been tested to their maximum carry capacity of 700 pounds. Waite explains this means that paramedics do not need to manually lift large patients reducing the risk of serious workplace injuries.