A new ambulance was unveiled today in Elmhurst as part of Advocate Children’s Hospital’s effort to be better able to transport critically ill infants and children.
One hospital official called the new ambulance an “ICU on Wheels.”
The new, high-tech ambulance has “Kid-Focused Care” written on its sides. Dr. Maureen Quaid, who heads medical transport for Advocate Children’s Hospital, said she’s excited because her team had a hand in designing the first of two new ambulances.
“We’ve incorporated a lot of safety features, things that make it less stressful for the small babies to be bouncing around in an ambulance," Quaid said. [The new features] make sure we have really easy access to any emergency equipment we need for any age child.”
Irma Guevara, Advocate’s pediatric transport team program manager, said one such feature is better hydraulics and shocks, in addition to other equipment designed to make it feel as if an infant is on a cloud.
“It’s almost a high-tech, memory foam, gel foam,” Guevara said. “It allows the shocks to be absorbed into the mattress, so it reaches the infant the least.”
Among other new features: A monitor in the cab that will allow parents to watch a live feed of their children in the back of the ambulance.
Dr. Quaid said her team transports at least 5,000 young people from other hospitals to Advocate Children’s per year. In a press release, Advocate officials wrote that they are on track to exceed that number by the third quarter of 2022.
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