Pictures of installing a car seat on a gurney

Judi

CPST/Firefighter

• Oct 17, 2010

• #1

1. Find a gurney. (Then talk DH on of bringing one home, for installs)

2. Set recline at about 45 degrees. I have this set at about 43.

3. Unbuckle straps.

4. Set seat on gurney, in rear facing mode (use boot, put the kickstand in, whatever)

5. Put chest strap through forward facing belt path.

6. Put hip strap through rear facing belt path.

7. Tighten both. Now when I did this, I tried to make sure the buckle wouldn't be behind the child's back. There was a way to cinch down the straps on both sides of the gurney. All gurneys are different.

 

MomToEliEm

Moderator

• Oct 19, 2010

• #2

Thanks for giving the step-by-step approach to installing the carseat in the ambulance. Hopefully no one was missing the gurney while you played with it.

 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter

• Oct 19, 2010

• #3

MomToEliEm said:

Thanks for giving the step-by-step approach to installing the carseat in the ambulance. Hopefully no one was missing the gurney while you played with it.

Click to expand...

I used the third ambulance out, so no worries. Actually, there were no calls while I was there, which is odd.

 

Katy

New member

• Oct 19, 2010

• #4

I don't plan on needing this but great to know!!! Will this work with most convertibles? Would you do a RF install for a kid past the RF weight? How is FF?? I've never heard of doing an install on a gurney.

 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter

• Oct 19, 2010

• #5

Katy said:

I don't plan on needing this but great to know!!! Will this work with most convertibles? Would you do a RF install for a kid past the RF weight? How is FF?? I've never heard of doing an install on a gurney.

Click to expand...

Yes, this works with most, really all convertibles. We really didn't talk about a weight limit in class. You do not do a forward facing install on a gurney though. The kids always face the same way the adults face, on a gurney, which is rear facing.

 

Last edited: Oct 19, 2010

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob

Staff member

• Oct 20, 2010

• #6

The gurney I used the other night, they were able to buckle inside the belt path, then rotate the strap through and cinch outside the belt path. Super easy, and we got a really, really solid fit in about 1 minute with the Radian. The medics were in love with the Radian, for that reason.

(My daughter usually has room above her head in the Radian, a smidgen more than an inch. Because it was at a 45 degree angle, her head was almost at the top. I did not hesitate to use it though because a) ambulance crashes are very rare and b) if we WERE in one, I've seen a few crash test videos in my SN class of what happens to child in regular straps vs. child in seat. They didn't have an abulance harness for a child her size available, so it was one or the other. I wanted her in the seat, and figured overrotation on a gurney, was not my biggest worry if we were in an ambulance crash. LOL.)

 

Dillipop

Well-known member

• Oct 20, 2010

• #7

So, this is the second time I've seen pics of a radian on the gurney with the boot. What happens if you can't find your boot? I have no clue where mine is, as we haven't used the seat rfing in over a year now.

And with other seats, would the seat just hang over the level part of the gurney? Since the boot makes the radian compatible, most seats don't have a natural 45 deg angle, how would that look?

 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter

• Oct 20, 2010

• #8

I can do another seat, if you would like. I would just do the FFing belt path first, then the RFing. It would work fine. I did the radian, because of Anne.

 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob

Staff member

• Oct 20, 2010

• #9

The medics said that they've always managed to get seats on and make them work-- but some are muuuch harder than the Radian. They really liked the ease of install and how solid it got. Basically, if it didn't fit I'm pretty sure they'd just transport without it, but they try hard to make any seat fit because when the child doesn't need to lie flat, it is better to transport with a car seat than without.

 

S

sparkyd

Active member

• Oct 22, 2010

• #10

Is it standard training everywhere for paramedics to at least try to put a car seat on a gurney, or is this just something done by areas that have offered special training or have people that are particularly enlightened about safety while in a moving vehicle?

And at what age or size is just being strapped on the gurney perfectly fine?

 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter

• Oct 22, 2010

• #11

I learned in my special needs class. I am not a paramedic. The paramedic that was there wasn't surprised I was doing it though. I have not learned this being a fire fighter.

 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member

• Oct 22, 2010

• #12

That Radian looks like it fits better on that gurney than it does in a lot of vehicles !

 

mommy-medic

New member

• Oct 23, 2010

• #13

Thanks Judi!

Dunno if you had seen this or not, but I did one a while back as well with my radian. (Yeah, it does fit better than some vehicles, lol!)

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=116017

Did one of your straps end up inside the belt path when tightened? Ours did, and it was a PITB to get undone, but couldn't be avoided (only one side has a tensioner on our belts, but I have seen some services that are adjustable at both sides.)

 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter

• Oct 23, 2010

• #14

No, I didn't see that! Oops. Ours have tensioners on both sides, so I just made sure the buckle wasn't in the belt path. One was close though.