Just south of Interstate 10 lies the largest city in southeastern Arizona, the City of Sierra Vista, Arizona, and its fire department Sierra Vista Fire & Medical Services. The Sierra Vista Fire & Medical Services’ Patient Transport Engine (PTE) is housed at fire station 203 in Northeast Sierra Vista.
The Patient Transport Engine or Engine 203 is a Pierce Velocity 1500-gallon per minute, 750-gallon water tank, and 30-gallon foam tank with an ambulance configuration. The engine responds out of fire station 203 just north of Highway 90. Sierra Vista Fire & Medical uses Engine 203 to transport low-acuity patients or patients with minor injuries, allowing a more traditional-style ambulance to transport high acuity patients or patients with major injuries. The unit completes an average of two hospital transports a day.
“Engine 203 came about in research done to try and find an alternative type of engine that had the ability to transport and do the work that an Engine usually does without losing the efficiency,” Fire Chief Brian Jones of Sierra Vista Fire & Medical Services said to Buffers Central. “The goal was to find an apparatus that met these needs and had a positive impact on our operations as well as the budget. Sierra Vista Fire and Medical has received both of these positives,” Fire Chief Jones added.
“The impact on the community has been very positive. Engine 203 with its capabilities has the ability to fight fire and transport to the Emergency Room,” said Fire Chief Jones.
Engine 203 is staffed daily with 3 personnel. “In the past, we needed 5 personnel in order to operate an ambulance and engine in the same location,” Fire Chief Jones said. “With Engine 203 we are accomplishing the same tasks with fewer people which allows us to allocate that personnel to other parts of the organization,” Fire Chief Jones continued.
According to Sierra Vista Fire & Medical Services, the use of the Patient Transport Engine has improved hospital transportation and response times for the department, specifically in Station 203 first due area. “The decline in response times due to proximity to the hospital and Engine 203 is a multifaceted piece of equipment that has the ability to do two jobs with one apparatus,” Fire Chief Jones told Buffers Central.
Engine 203 with the ambulance configuration has the approval of the Arizona Department of Health Services to transport and is maintained like an ambulance, the department said.
The department is still in the data collection phase of whether or not another Patient Transport Engine would benefit the city. “Future purchases of this type of apparatus would have to include fuel costs, staffing, and location,” Fire Chief Jones said.