FARMINGTON – NorthStar EMS, which is affiliated with Franklin Memorial Hospital, has announced that it has taken delivery of a new ambulance for its Farmington base that introduces new equipment to enhance patient care.

The latest technology additions include capnography, which measures the amount of carbon dioxide that is expelled by a patient, and equipment that provides airway pressure to benefit those with breathing problems.

NorthStar’s newest addition to its fleet of 12 ambulances and two paramedic intercept vehicles is a remounted PL Custom ambulance. To assure the most effective long-term value of its ambulance “boxes,” NorthStar often reconditions the patient compartment in the ambulance and reinstalls it on a new Ford chassis.

According to David Robie, executive director, this has proven to be a cost effective way to obtain essentially a new ambulance for about two-thirds the cost of a new ambulance.

The capnography equipment will be phased in at all NorthStar’s bases. And, under a pilot program with the state, NorthStar is introducing equipment and training to provide the availability of continuous positive airway pressure on all its emergency runs.

The equipment often brings relief for patients with acute pulmonary edema and other respiratory problems, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and may allow the responding unit to avoid placing a breathing tube in the patient. It may lead to faster recovery and less need for respiratory therapy in the hospital.

“The ambulance response is just the start of a chain of events when someone is seriously ill,” said Robie. “We also consider it our responsibility to assure the best long-term care after we deliver the patient to the hospital. These new equipment introductions help us to meet that goal.”

Robie said NorthStar also plans on taking delivery later this year of a totally new PL Custom ambulance for its Sugarloaf base.

Information about NorthStar and the communities it serves can be found at www.fchn.org/NorthStar.