Lately he's been getting up at 5 a.m. to ride his Trek carbon fiber road bike to the summit of Mount Wachusett before work. He'd read that the Phoenix Fire Department has bicycles equipped for emergency medical service, and he scouted around on the Internet to find out about other ambulance squads using bikes. He found there are many in the Southwest, but Princeton apparently is the only community in Massachusetts to have a medical-response bike. Some of the best tips he got came from MedStar, the ambulance service for Fort Worth, Texas, where EMTs even carry cardiac defibrillators on their bikes. Trek Stop in Grafton donated a Rock Shox suspension and secured a discount on VistaLite headlights, and Hot Tubes in Worcester repainted the frame using graphics designed by Alarm Graphics of Grafton.
Medical equipment fits in two small panniers and a duffel on the rear rack.
Contents include a bag valve mask, blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, glucose, gloves, a thermal blanket, oxygen tubes and bandages. The key is a two-way radio, said Brill, who also carries a cellular phone. The idea is for the biking EMT to provide initial help and relay information to rescuers in ambulances or helicopters that can get to a trailhead with extra supplies. Moreover, he said, Princeton Police Sgt. Brian Kemp told him he wouldn't want to use an ATV for a search and rescue because the engine would drown out the sounds of the people rescuers need to reach.