Is your ambulance interior Horton safe?

A great deal of publicity and discussion in the world of EMS involves ambulance safety. While occupant safety in the event of a crash is important, focusing solely on impact safety is a great injustice to EMS workers. The daily exposure to microbial contamination in the patient area offers a much more widespread risk that is often given only cursory treatment or is ignored altogether.

Horton Emergency Vehicles has also long recognized the importance of patient area contamination and has attacked the issue on two fronts. First, Horton has removed all natural organic materials from the vehicle. Decaying organic compounds often serve as hosts in which microbial contaminants can breed and multiply. Wood and wood related products that absorb moisture are excellent examples of poor material selection. Horton's commitment to new technology composite materials capitalizes on their unique features while eliminating contamination danger at the same time.

Activated anytime it comes into contact with moisture, special coatings release silver ions to kill unwanted microbial contaminants.

Even more important is Horton's development of material selections and techniques that actually incorporate the ability to kill undesirable microbes on an ongoing basis inside the vehicle.

While typically used wipe-down procedures should still be followed religiously, tests have shown them to be far from 100 percent effective. That's where Horton interiors come into play. Our interior materials in cabinets, headliners, floors, grab handles and upholstery now actively fight and destroy bacterial growth 24 hours a day. We are there to help protect your staff, even when they are not using the vehicle. The anti-bacterial properties are permanent -- they will be working as long as you own your Horton Emergency Vehicle. How much additional do you have to pay for these critical options? Nothing. They all come standard on every Horton Emergency Vehicle.

With any new antimicrobial surface developed by Horton, samples are created and undergo stringent laboratory testing.