HUNDREDS of emergency crews are adapting their ambulances with a new system to stop tots falling off stretchers while racing to hospital.
In a UK-first, all 450 ambulances across Scotland are being kitted out with child booster beds.
The seat’s designers say they will make Scots youngsters the most securely transported in the country.
The safety precedent was set yesterday (Thursday) by the Scottish Ambulance Service, which became the first to adopt a new Ambulance Child Restraint (ACR) system.
Speaking at the roll-out ambulance boss Michael Jackson said the seats, designed by ParAid Medical, set a safety precedent for others.
He said: “Until the development of ParAid’s ACR, there has been no device on the market that could secure children of all ages and sizes onto a trolley cot, and at the same time allow our staff access to care for and treat the child’s medical condition.
“The ACR was developed with our front line staff and its innovative design allows us to transport and care for children of all ages more securely and safely than ever before.”
The ACR is available in three sizes catering for infants and children from 5kg to 45kg, the point at which an adult restraint becomes effective.
It is also the only ambulance child restraint harness to pass crash tests to the same standards as other ambulance equipment.
ParAid Medical’s director Phil Hopkins thanked pupils from Stoneyhill Primary School in Musselborough who participated in crucial child user trials.
He said: “We are proud to have developed this new product that will enhance child safety in ambulances across the country, and thank all of our development partners, without whose help, advice and support we could not have completed the project.”
