After Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in the fall of 2005, Sartin had an idea. He- wanted to design a patient evacuation/triage vehicle that could treat and transport large numbers of patients or victims to or from a hospital. He wanted a complete patient care system that could be assembled in any large vehicle such as a bus, tractor trailer, truck, train, airplane, subway car or a railroad car. The design that Sartin and his son Austin, came up with makes it possible to treat and transport large numbers of injured people at the same time. Being familiar with buses, they started with the shell of a bus and got to work building a bigger, better triage/evacuation vehicle. They have succeeded.  The Sartins' designed the vehicle with several unique components that give caregivers the tools- they need to treat or transport large numbers of patients or victims. A sliding stretcher stacking system allows medical personnel to load as many as 24 patients on one bus. A large oxygen storage and distribution system provides a long term supply of oxygen and an individual metered oxygen supply for each patient. A large adjustable ramp that stores under the bus is used for loading or unloading patients. The ramp can be positioned at different height levels to accommodate the loading or unloading needs of medical personnel. The bus also has many other special features including a nurse's station, seating for medical personnel, an onboard generator, electrical outlets and storage compartments for medical machines and equipment, emergency lighting and siren, heating and air conditioning.

The Sartinx's have filed several patent applications on the vehicle and components. The system is not only limited to a bus, it can be installed on trucks, tractor-trailers, trains, subway cars, railroad cars or airplanes.  "In the event of a major medical emergency - whether it's a subway accident, multi-casualty incident, or a terrorist attack - it may be necessary to transport large numbers of victims to the hospital," said Tom Carr, fire chief of the Montgomery County, Md. Fire and Rescue Service, which coordinated the purchase. "While an ambulance can handle one or possibly two patients, these specially outfitted buses will increase the regionxs transport capability allowing each vehicle to accommodate up to 21 victims at a time."

The funds for this initial bus purchase were procured from a grant from the Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security's Urban Area Security Initiative. Once complete, the MABs will be delivered to different fire departments in the Washington, DC area, including Montgomery County, Md.

"These buses will be vital in transporting pandemic patients, going to a major medical emergency, a mass-casualty incident, a terrorist attack, evacuation of a hospital in a hurricanexs path or even to be on-site in the Western forest fires to allow firefighters to get oxygen and sleep," says Austin Sartin.  Sartin Services, Inc. specializes in the design, manufacture and installation of custom interiors on buses, emergency response vehicles, mobile command centers and the new (MAB) Mobile Evacuation Bus.

The company's parts division ships transportation related parts all over the United States and to seven foreign countries. It is one of the largest bus conversion companies in the country installing school bus air conditioning and other specialty products in thousands of buses each year. 

For More Information Contact: Address: 6116 Old Mendenhall Road Archdale, NC 27263

Ed Sartin , President Primary Phone: 336-841-5505 Primary Fax: 336-889-4498 e-mail: ed@sartinservices.com