Patent ID: 8671475

Claim:
A patient moving apparatus for use with an ambulance, comprising: a patient cradle having a flexible seat configured to wrap about a portion of a patient and one or more lifting straps secured to the flexible seat, the patient cradle separate from an ambulance chair of the ambulance; a loading ramp configured to span a distance between ground level and a level of a floor of a rear of the ambulance, the loading ramp configured to accommodate wheels of the ambulance chair; a winch with a retractable winch cable, the winch secured within the rear of the ambulance, the winch cable having an attachment mechanism configured to removably attach to an attachment point located on a rearward side of the ambulance chair and, when not attached to the attachment point located on a rearward side of the ambulance chair, to the one or more lifting straps, the winch having sufficient strength to, when the winch cable is attached to the attachment point on the ambulance chair, draw the ambulance chair and the patient disposed therein up the loading ramp and into the rear of the ambulance, and when the winch cable is attached to the one or more lifting straps, lift the patient and patient cradle for transfer to an ambulance stretcher; and an articulating arm having a pulley to support the winch cable, the articulating arm separate from the winch and secured within the rear of the ambulance at a location between the winch and a rear door of the ambulance, the articulating arm capable of rotation through an arc while maintaining the pulley at a level higher than the ambulance chair, and the articulating arm configured to rotate sufficiently such that the patient and the patient cradle may be lifted from the ambulance chair by the supported winch cable, rotated to be disposed over the ambulance stretcher, and lowered upon the ambulance stretcher by the supported winch cable, upon operation of the winch.