COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) Among the electronic gear aboard a new Covington Fire Department ambulance are cameras.
One records activity inside the patient area of the $257,000 ambulance and the other is outside and allows the driver to see what’s behind him. The vehicle was put into service last month.
The Kentucky Enquirer reports the recorder keeps up to 160 hours of footage shot inside the vehicle.
Covington Emergency Medical Services director Karl Chalk said the department makes about 9,000 ambulance runs each year and a couple of times a year patients attack medics.
Chalk said the camera can also help settle disputes, of which about 10 per year occur. Those can include billing disputes or complaints about medics.
The department doesn’t plan to put cameras on older ambulances, but will require them on each new ambulance it buys.
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Information from: The Kentucky Enquirer, Camera enhances ambulance security in Covington
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