The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1894-06-23
THE PARIS AMBULANCE SYSTEM.
Careful Transfer of Patients with Conta-
gious Diseases TO the Hospital.


gious Diseases to the Hospital.
The ambulanees of the De Stael and
Chalingly street stations in Paris have
four wheels provided with rubber tires
and are drawn by one horse. The corners
are rounded in the interior, and the sheet
iron sides are painted and vanished. They
contain a flexible metallic seat for the
nurse and litter for the patient, A rub
Der tube permits of communication with
the driver. They include no drawers for
lhe carriage of the clothing and bedding
Of the patient, this service being incum-
bent upon the disinfecting station. In
winter they are heated with cylinders of
hot water.
Each of these vehicles is capable of carry
ing one adult patient or two children af-
1icted with the same contagious disease.
The ambulance is closed by the driver,
who must keep the key in his pocket, but
the door can be opened from the interior.
So no outsider can open it by inadvertance.
The litter put in use in the ambulance
stations of Paris is jointed, so that the pa
tient can be either seated or placed in a re-
Ginning posture without having to be dis
turbed. 1t is arranged as an armchair for
descending Stairways and as a bed in the
ambulance. The invalid rests on a cushion
of pure horsehair, which can be passed
through the disinfecting stove an indefinite
period.
The patient having been brought down
stairs the legs of the litter are placed upon
the rollers designed to facilitate it's intro
duction or removal through rails arranged
in the vehicle. This litter is made of iron
plate, painted and vanished. Apertures
are punched in the bottom of it in order to
give it greater lightness. For children a
litter in the form of hand barrow is used.
1t is easily seen that this apparatus can be
very easily disinfected.
The carriage is effected as follows: Each
station comprises a superintendent, two
drivers and groom. The nurses, who are
trained, put on for the carriage of the
patient long blouse of unbleached cotton,
we'll adjusted to the neck and wrists, de-
scending to the heels and buttoning all the
way down. The head covering is a cotton
cap, which incloses the hair and falls upon
the neck.
The road costume of the driver is blouse
and a pair of trousers of cotton worn over
his ordinary clothing, and an oilcloth cap
which can be easily washed with disin-
fecting solution.
The ambulances may be ordered direct
Dy OHe puDllC verbally, ny lebIerY Dy bele-
graph or by telephone. AS soon as the
notification is received the station superin-
tendent calls up the driver and nurse
through an electric bell, the number OF
strokes sounded giving the number of the
ambulances to be got ready. The ambu-
lances, moreover, are always ready to start
and horse remains constantly harnessed
In the office there is posted list showing
to what hospital the patient will have tc
be SENT according to the nature of his
disease.
The ambulance must not stop at any
point of its travel under any pretext what
ever. AS soon as it has deposited the pa
tent at the hospital it must return to the
station, where it first enters the YARD
set apart for disinfection. This operation
is effected by means of liquid pro
jected by vaporizer. The outer clothinl
of the nurse and driver are placed in tn,
disinfecting stove. The ambulance and it,
litter are afterward placed in the Wagon
house. The nurse, before retiring to he
apartments, enters a room where sh,
makes her toilet with disinfecting liquids
and takes care not to neglect to brush he
hands and nails with care-Paris Letter