LIME CITY – With 2021 their busiest year, necessity has resulted in the Perrysburg Township Fire/EMS Department converting one ambulance to a bariatric focus.

“We have essentially turned one of our ambulances into a bariatric unit,” Fire and EMS Chief Tom Brice said during a new equipment discussion at a township trustees meeting. “Our patient size is probably not getting any smaller and lifting injuries are a huge issue in fire and EMS, so the EMS committee has been looking at ways of reducing these potential injuries.”

Trustees approved the purchase of four Binder Lift units for the Fire/EMS department. Three standard Binder Lift units, at $749 each, and then one bariatric Binder Lift unit is $849.

“We will put the bariatric unit on the bariatric ambulance,” Brice said.

The department was able to demo the units for several weeks before making the decision to purchase.

“It’s really nothing fancy, I frankly wish I had thought of the idea myself,” Brice said about the lift unit designs. “The guys got to use (it) on a handful of patients and found it to be useful.”

It’s a device used to help lift patients that are injured. The units are made of fabric with up to 25 handles that allow multiple caregivers to team lift and carry a patient, while allowing for better ergonomics in cramped environments.

Purchase of the units was approved unanimously by trustees.

The last three months of 2021 were the busiest in the history of the department, capping off the busiest year in the history of the department. The record set in 2020, of 1,929 runs, was beaten in 2022 with 2,066 runs.

“There was no shortage of business out there right now,” Brice said.

Several statistics stand out for the year. The three most popular transport hospitals were St. Luke’s McLaren in Maumee at 382, Mercy Health – Perrysburg with 316, and Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo with a distant 86.

Private residences were the most common location for the calls, at 1,184, followed by nursing homes, with 300 calls.

However, if the roadway category, with 166 calls, is added into the mutual/auto-aid category, at 142, then transportation becomes the second most popular, at 308 runs.

The fire/EMS department is also giving more mutual aid to other departments than it is receiving. There were 38 instances of mutual aid received and 93 runs given. The most common were with neighbors Perrysburg at 56, followed by Rossford at 23 runs, in 2021.

Revenues were $138,993 for fire, $285,599 for EMS and a combination $351,918.

December saw 164 EMS runs and 35 fire runs for the department.

Matthew Grove was approved as a new hire in the police department at a rate of $32.43 per hour, after an executive session. His start date will be Feb. 6.

Several purchase orders were also approved for the police department.

A purchase order for $8,000 was approved to Traffic Stop, for new hire uniform expenses. Funds will come from the drug fund.

A damaged cruiser was repaired by Thayer Family Dealership of Bowling Green for $3,959, which was covered by insurance.

A purchase order to Perry ProTech for additional work in getting new officer body cameras working was approved for $1,640.

Recreation Director Bob Warnimont said the Wood County Park District has awarded a $6,580 grant for safety surfaces at Perrysburg Heights’ Starbright Park.