How Digital Ambulances Can Better Equip EMS Providers

As technology advances, so do emergency medical services, adapting to new developments and utilizing them to improve their quality of patient care. Ambulance manufacturer Crestline Coach is one company committed to keeping up with these innovations.

Steve Hoffrogge, president and CEO of Crestline, and Scott Sawatsky, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Crestline, recently discussed the features of Crestline's digital ambulances.

“There’s different aspects of the digital or smart ambulance,” says Hoffrogge. “‘Digital’ meaning a special computer technology that’s being utilized, and ‘smart’ meaning interacting with the vehicle in real-time to help EMS make maintenance cost decisions, monitor employee behavior, driving behavior, all the way through actual interface and influencing EMS practitioners in the back of the ambulance on what procedures and pathway of treatment they are pursuing.”

Implementing real-time instrumentation, such as a multiplex system, in ambulances improves the overall efficiency of the emergency transportation system. For example, fleet managers can receive real-time data regarding the speed of the vehicle, when lights and sirens are being used and even maintenance readings from the chassis, resulting in lower operating costs throughout the vehicle’s life cycle.

“In a nutshell, that’s the biggest benefit that fleet managers are having in terms of making sure the vehicles are safe, operable and running efficiently,” says Sawatsky.

Multiplex technology, sometimes paired with video interface now, also improves communications between EMS personnel and hospital staff, allowing doctors to better assess a scene and provide critical care instructions, also known as telemedicine.

Receiving instruction from specialists to supplement the provision of basic or advanced life support for patients is not the only benefit of improved communication systems. RFID, or radio-frequency identification, allows for better asset management.  

“Think about what it takes to run an efficient EMS vehicle,” says Hoffrogge. “How you keep track of equipment that’s deployed in the vehicle, different types of instrumentation, the logistics of having the ambulance decontaminated and restocked in a timely way. We see a lot of technology utilizing RFID to help manage those aspects. There are suppliers helping us enable accessibility to technology to the EMS provider.”

Hoffrogge and Sawatsky like to maintain a strong focus on cost management for EMS providers.

“Key aspects of what we call the ‘total cost of ownership’ are fleet management, driver performance and safety,” says Hoffrogge. “As a designer of emergency specialty vehicles, we help customers make decisions on the right vehicle design for the right application versus a one-size-fits-all. This ensures the delivery of service not at the expense of patient or practitioner safety and extends the usable life cycle of the ambulance itself.”

Hoffrogge and Sawatsky say that while the acceptance of evolving ambulance technologies was slow until the last five to seven years, EMS are increasingly embracing them, especially since the vehicles end up paying for themselves due to better maintenance and asset management.

“The technology growth is in pace in which EMS providers are utilizing the technology; first and foremost, to drive, to improve patient care and employee safety and then get to the dollars and cents of how they minimize the cost of operating their fleet,” says Hoffrogge.

If cost is a concern, Hoffrogge and Sawatsky emphasize that providers don’t need to dive head-first into outfitting their ambulances with these advancements.

“There is a step-function approach that we’re taking here,” says Sawatsky. “Service providers don’t have to embrace every aspect of what we’re embracing here. You can start out very basic and build from that platform.”

“The adaption of technology, when combined with fundamental changes in the configuration of the vehicles and how we’re designing them, should be increasing the value that we’re providing versus it just costing more,” Hoffrogge says.

“We play a role in making sure that our target customers understand the abundance of technology that’s available,” says Hoffrogge. “It’s tried and proven in the industry and we match that to their business needs from an EMS provider’s perspective and the economics of how they have to operate,” says Hoffrogge.

Rather than offering standardized trucks with fixed price points, Crestline makes a strong effort to help ambulance services find the best fit. For more information, visit www.crestlinecoach.com.