SOUND THE SIRENS!
DRISCOLL’S FLEET EXPANDS AS NEW AMBULANCE
ROLLS OUT TO CARE, TRANSPORT YOUNG PATIENTS

New Ambulance Unveiling & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Monday, May 21, 2007 at 2pm
Driscoll Children’s Hospital

(Corpus Christi, TX) Driscoll Children’s Hospital’s will unveil its newest state-of-the-art ambulance during a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, May 21 at 2pm. at the hospital. The newest addition makes a total of four in Driscoll’s fleet. The unveiling occurs during Emergency Services Week (EMS) where EMS professionals are recognized and acknowledged for their talents and efforts.

The new ambulance cost approximately $111,000. Funds were raised during the hospital’s Cattleman’s Round-Up, eight local community barn auctions held throughout South Texas. 4-H children donated livestock, farm utensils, as well as baked goods and grown food to be auctioned off and funds raised were given to Driscoll. Funds from the upcoming 2007 Cattleman’s Round-Up series will benefit the purchase of another ambulance in the near future.

At 21 feet long and 8 feet wide, the new Ford F 350, 7.3 liter turbo charged diesel comes with an ambulance package and weighs in at a gross vehicle weight of more than 12,500 pounds each. The vehicle hosts a self-contained 12 foot long “box” (where the patient is cared for) generating its own power, and therefore not running off of the truck’s chassis. This cost-saving configuration allows Driscoll to utilize the “boxes” longer, and re-mount the “box” when a truck chassis wears out. The new ambulance is covered in “fun” decals and stickers on the inside.

About the Transport Team
Members of Driscoll’s Transport Team typically drive more than 8 to 10 hours each day, non-stop with transports averaging 300 miles round-trip. The hospital transports over 1,200 miles each year with the majority originating from the Rio Grande Valley. Additionally, Driscoll ambulances have traveled 1,205,931 miles in the past 7 years. Emergent and non-emergent patients are transported for treatment, as it may not be safe to transport these children in a car for long distances or durations.

Driscoll’s neonatal and pediatric critical care transport services are internationally-recognized and the only dedicated neonatal and pediatric transport program serving South Texas and Mexico. Each year, Driscoll travels thousands of miles transporting critically ill or injured children to and from local, regional, national, and international referral sites. The critical care transport services offer emergent, timely, comprehensive, advanced medical services for neonatal and pediatric trauma, acute cardiac and respiratory events, as well as emergent surgical and medical needs – 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether by ground or air, Driscoll’s Transport Team offers speedy access to specialized pediatric services when young patients and their families in South Texas and Mexico need it most.

Did you know?

• Since beginning in 1995, the Transport Team has traveled more than 1.2 million miles on the road by ambulance and in the skies by plane and helicopter.
• Transport Teams have successfully completed more than 12,000 transports in 12 years.
• To date, the Transport “fleet” is comprised of four (4) state-of-the-art neonatal/pediatric critical care-equipped ambulances, two (2) 421 Cessna twin-engine fixed wing aircraft, and two (2) helicopters - a Bell 407
• Two specific teams are located in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley and take care of Valley to Valley transports.
• 33% of all transport calls are transported by fixed-wing aircraft, 63% by ambulance, and 4% by helicopter.
• 30% of all transports are N.I.C.U. related, 23% are P.I.C.U., and 25% are Emergency Department or patient floor related.
• In 1995, the Transport Team hosted only 12 members. Today, it has grown to 52.
• The Transport Team’s mascot is the Sea Horse. Like a marsupial (kangaroo or panda bear), the sea horse carries its young in its pouch ... just as Team members carry their young patients so that they may receive specialized pediatric care.

About Driscoll Children’s Hospital
“Improve the health of adults and you give them back their health …
Improve the health of children and you give them their life.”

Since opening its doors in 1953, Driscoll Children’s Hospital has been offering hope and healing to the children of South Texas for half a century. The facility is a 189-bed pediatric tertiary care center with pediatric board-certified specialists representing 19 medical and nine surgical specialties. Each year, more than 6,000 children are admitted for inpatient care, 5,000 for day surgery, and 50,000 for outpatient primary and specialty care, as well as 40,000 for emergency care, as the first South Texas hospital with emergency services exclusively for children. Additionally, Driscoll maintains a state-of-the-art ground/air transport team, 20-bed pediatric intensive care unit, 40-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and specialized medical outreach.

www.driscollchildrens.org

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