Winter Park unveils self-decontaminating ambulances

Winter Park Fire/Rescue hopes its newest ambulances can break the chain of infection if an infectious disease such as the Ebola virus ever reaches the city of culture and heritage.

The city took a step toward emergency preparedness and safety on Friday as they showcased a new series of ambulances equipped with built-in decontamination units – coming in the wake of an international Ebola virus scare.

The units are made up of pressurized pumps, which release a decontamination mist inside the passenger area of the ambulance. It takes about 15 minutes for the mist to cover all the surface area inside – a process that can be done even while the ambulance is moving.

Winter Park Fire Chief Jim White said the city has started using three ambulances with the cutting-edge technology, making Winter Park the first city in Central Florida to have them.

“This basically allows us to decontaminate the patient compartment completely after every patient,” White said. “We’re real pleased with being able to have this right now.”

The faster cleaning process allows the ambulances to quickly move on to the next emergency, White said. Before the current system, emergency vehicles had to be temporarily set aside for hand cleaning.

A mist system gives a much more thorough cleaning as well, reaching every nook and cranny of the passenger area, said Ronald Brown, founder and CEO of AeroClave, which created the units.

“We wanted to take the human element out of it,” Brown said. “It doesn’t give you a warm and fuzzy feeling to rely on a hand wipe down.”

Questions of decontamination sprang up in Dallas following the diagnosis of patient Thomas Eric Duncan with the Ebola virus. The ambulance used to transport Duncan was later quarantined, but not before several other Dallas residents stepped inside. On Sunday Dallas authorities tracked down homeless man Michael Lively, who rode in the same ambulance shortly after Duncan.

Dallas officials continue an ongoing manhunt for several dozen residents who may have come in close contact with Duncan.

White said that by assuring the best ambulance decontamination in Winter Park, residents should have one less thing to worry about.

“Our goal is to break the chain of contamination,” White said. “Say we were Dallas and we had that situation – they didn’t know for a day or so whether that person had Ebola, so all of the sudden you have 10 or 15 more patients who have been in that ambulance that may have been exposed to it.”

“Now we feel a lot more confident that we’ll be able to break that chain.”