Working with EMS professionals to make our products better

Ferno's Tim Schroeder (in the red shirt) tells local fire department officials and firefighter-paramedics about design changes the Wilmington company may make in ambulance cots.

Some news just in from the Cincinnati about our American cousins which shows how closely we collaborate with emergency service professionals. Read on…

Local fire department officials recently got a look at the future of ambulances and emergency medical service equipment, and the manufacturer’s engineers took the opportunity to get feedback from firefighter-paramedics on the frontline.
Stephen Ashbrock, chief of the Madeira & Indian Hill Joint Fire District, said staff from his district and from eight other regional fire districts and departments that traveled to Wilmington to tour the Ferno company’s manufacturing plant can reveal few details about what they saw because of a non-disclosure agreement with the company that may be best known for its ambulance cots.
But, “As they showed us the equipment we were in the unique position then to provide them feedback on what we liked or perhaps didn’t like about the prototype,” Ashbrock said.
“This is genuine outreach by the company as they are asking the actual users of their equipment to provide input into the quality and functionality of the equipment we use every day.”
Participating in the tour of Ferno were members of the East Group of Fire Departments, which, in addition to the Madeira & Indian Hill Joint Fire District, include the Anderson Township Fire Department, Deer Park Silverton Joint Fire District, Little Miami Joint Fire & Rescue District, Mariemont Fire Department, Milford Community Fire Department, Montgomery Fire Department, Sycamore Township Fire Department and Terrace Park Fire Department.
The local fire department officials and firefighter-paramedics watched Ferno test cots and other emergency medical services equipment and participated in a hands-on lab featuring prototype cots not yet on the market.
Ferno also makes motorized “stair chairs” that move people up and down steps and “scoop stretchers” that help lift people out of beds and off floors.
“What makes the equipment special is that it is designed to improve the safety of patient-moving for both the patient and the emergency responder,” Ashbrock said.
“We also were presented with Ferno’s view of ambulances of the future and how they might be made smaller, more efficient and safer by redesigning the interior spaces and storage areas.”
Colton Janzen of Madeira, a Xavier University business student and unpaid business intern with the Madeira & Indian Hill Joint Fire District, coordinated the event with Ferno officials.
“I am interested in available careers in American manufacturing, so when the manufacturer makes fire department equipment it was a perfect opportunity to try to make the connection for the fire departments, Ferno and me,” Janzen said.
“When a manufacturer is interested in the input of the end-user of their products everyone benefits.”
Ashbrock said it is too early to say what the new equipment Ferno is developing will cost and whether local fire districts and departments will be able to afford any of it.
“Some of the equipment will be more expensive than current equipment, but if it saves firefighter back injuries there is a definite trade-off and more – like a savings for the fire departments,” Ashbrock said.
“There is perhaps an arguable view that redesigned ambulances could actually be less expensive.”
The East Group of Fire Departments meets monthly to discuss collaborative efforts.
Original article is here Cincinnati.com