26-Patient Ambulance Unveiled

Fire officials in Anne Arundel County, Md., have unveiled an ambulance that can hold 26 patients.

The Baltimore Sun reported that the $445,000 bus-style vehicle is one of two that will be used in the Baltimore region. The other one will be used in Howard County. Twenty are being used across the United States.

The ambulance can be used to treat and transport people during large-scale emergencies that could include mass casualties, people suffering from heat-related problems at public events or the evacuations of nursing homes.

Division Chief Michael E. Cox Junior said the ambulance can supply individually metered oxygen to 23 patients at once. It can hold 14 patients on stretchers or eight in wheelchairs.

A federal Urban Area Security Initiative grant paid for the vehicle, officials said.