Alberta ambulances being retrofitted to cut back on first-responder injuries from heavy lifting

First responders suffering injuries from loading obese patients has triggered a $20-million retrofit of stretchers for Alberta Health Services’ fleet of 350 ambulances. 
By March, the AHS ambulance fleet will have hydraulic stretchers that can accommodate patients up to 700 pounds. Current stretchers can hold the same patient weight but paramedics must do the heavy lifting to get the patients in and out of the ambulances.
“There hasn’t been an innovation like this that hel