New pressure-reducing mattresses for our road ambulances

What’s the most important factor when it comes to arranging an ambulance journey?

Clearly, there are a few different answers to that question. Some of them are fairly obvious:

Speed of response in emergency situations
Expertise of the on-board medical staff
Range of in-journey treatment options
Quality of the support team organising the route and liaising with the hospitals

While all these things are very important, one aspect that’s perhaps more easily overlooked is patient comfort. Yet for any secure medical journey – particularly one that involves transporting a vulnerable patient over a long distance by road – the comfort and security of the patient is absolutely vital.

That’s why EMS has just invested in a new range of medical bedding for our fleet of road ambulances.

Pressure-relieving mattress technology...

EMS ambulances are already built with long-distance travel in mind. All our vehicles are fitted with air suspension rather than standard spring suspension, which helps to reduce vibrations and create a smoother experience for the passengers inside. We also use automatic gearboxes to avoid sudden jerks and starts in transit.

The new on-board stretcher beds take this one step further. Each of them has been custom-made for us by Decupré, a Dutch company that creates specialist bedding for hospitals, ambulances and other medical facilities. The mattresses contain a layer of specially-developed memory foam that distributes the patient’s weight evenly across the surface. Underneath there’s a supporting layer of cold foam.

Pressure distribution is key in almost all medical situations because it helps to relieve the impact of lying or sitting in the same place for an extended period. That’s a particular issue for key impact-points like the coccyx (tailbone) and heels. Excessive pressure on these parts of the body reduces blood supply to the skin, which can cause decubitus ulcers – otherwise known as pressure ulcers, pressure sores or bedsores.

…with new memory-foam pillows

Decupré is also supplying us with its popular Medical Hygienic pillows. The pillow interiors contain flexible memory foam. The covers are completely sealed, to prevent ingress of allergy and asthma-causing bacteria and dust mites.

What else goes into EMS’s state-of-the-art ambulances?

Mattress technology is just one of the components that makes our ambulances leaders in the field for specialist, long-distance medical travel. They’re purpose-designed for transporting patients safely across regions and borders, with highly-trained paramedics, high care units and equipment tailored to individual patient needs. Typically they cover distances of around 1500 to 2500km, but they’re capable of going much further than that too.

Interested in finding out more about our ambulance fleet?

Go behind-the-scenes on one of our road ambulances

See how road ambulances compare to private jets and medical escorts for medevacs

Get a quick, free quote for a road ambulance transport