Emergency Medical Services to Get New Hydraulic Cots
By Tucker Lyon, The Times and Democrat, Orangeburg, S.C.
Apr. 4–”State-of-the-art” hydraulic ambulance equipment that will allow Emergency Medical Services personnel to transport heavier patients or those confined in narrow spaces was approved for purchase Monday by Orangeburg County Council.
Council accepted the $51,522.60 lone bid, submitted by Stryker Co. of Mt. Pleasant for six powered ambulance cots. The funds for the stretchers with hydraulic lifts are included in the budget.
Although only one bid was received, County Administrator Bill Clark said that it is a competitive one.
“This is essentially a hydraulic stretcher,” Clark said. “The hydraulic stretcher will serve several purposes. It can lift heavy patients or patients in confined areas, where the EMS can’t get.”
Also, Clark said, the use of the new equipment promises to reduce corresponding back injuries in EMS workers.
In other business, council:
–After a public hearing, gave final third reading to an ordinance creating a joint industrial park with Dorchester County, to be located in Dorchester County. Under the state economic development incentive, the creation of a joint park will allow Dorchester County, which provides all of the park expenses, to provide an industry with additional job incentives. In return, Orangeburg County will receive 1 percent of the industry-generated revenues.
“And, when the shoe is on the other foot,” Council Chairman John Rickenbacker said, an Orangeburg County firm with an industry in the joint park would receive 99 percent of the revenue. This arrangement, he said, “gives rural counties a chance to be competitive.”
Clark noted that “we’ve been on both sides” of the development equation.
–As a convenience to the public, agreed to the request of the CPM Federal Credit Union to place an automated teller machine in the lobby of the county Administrative Centre.
Under the agreement, the ATM will be available for use not only by employees, but also by the general public. All bank fees will be waived, even for users who are not CPM Federal Credit Union customers.
The term of the agreement is indefinite, with either party able to terminate it with 60 days notice. The county will provide a telephone line and an electrical outlet; while CPM Federal Credit Union will be responsible for all costs, including insurance.
–Agreed to the request of South Carolina State University, through the Department of Transportation, to remove two roads from the state maintenance system. The two short dead end roads, Parker Street and Pearl Street, are located on the campus of SCSU in the area where the new James Clyburn Transportation Center is to be built.
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