Rockingham Ambulance Completes Installation of all of its Vehicles with the Road Safety Safeforce™ Driving System

April 27, 2005 - Rockingham Regional Ambulance, Inc. (Rockingham) recently completed installation of Road Safety SafeForce™ technology in it’s entire fleet of ambulances and wheelchair vans. This will improve fleet safety, reduce maintenance costs, and provide better service to its customers.

A safer, easier ride is now more assured since Rockingham has installed the on-board computer systems in each of its nearly 30 vehicles.

The new on-board computer monitors numerous vehicle functions, much as a "black box" does in an airliner. The device records speed, rpm, vehicle stops, idle time, daily distance, brakes, use of siren and emergency lights, use of seatbelts, turn signals and many other driving functions. In addition, during vehicle operation, warning tones and alarms will alert the operator if the dynamic force at work on the vehicle exceeds recommendations, such as when a driver brakes too hard or turns a corner too fast. Each medic who operates a Rockingham vehicle activates the system with a personal ID key, so each driver's performance can be measured to ensure compliance with Rockingham’s safe driving protocol.

All Rockingham drivers are required to undergo drivers' training that incorporates classroom training, the National Safety Council®, Coaching the Emergency Vehicle Operator™ (CEVO) course, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC) for the Ambulance Driver, and specialized behind-the-wheel ambulance driver's training. Afterwards, all drivers must adhere to the SafeForce™ standards of driving, which are a very refined professional version of defensive driving.

Besides insuring a safer and more comfortable ride for patients and other customers, the new equipment is expected to lower Rockingham’s operating costs through more efficient vehicle maintenance. In addition, the accumulated data will be invaluable in helping to analyze the cause and prevention of vehicle incidents and crashes.

Rockingham is the first and only ambulance service in New Hampshire to utilize this state-of-the-art system. “The addition of the SafeForce™ Driving system adds an another important tool to our vehicle operation safety program”, said Chris Stawasz, Executive Director of Rockingham Regional Ambulance, Inc. “This new system not only monitors driver performance, it also gives the driver instant feedback about how he or she is operating the vehicle and whether or not they are approaching the limits of our safety settings”, he added. “We want our drivers operating our vehicles in the safest manner possible at all times and this system helps us to train our drivers to do that and monitors their performance to that standard”, Stawasz said.

About Rockingham Regional Ambulance, Inc.
Serving New Hampshire since 1976, Rockingham Regional Ambulance, Inc. operates nearly 30 medical transportation vehicles throughout Southern New Hampshire. Rockingham provides exclusive 9-1-1 paramedic level transport services to the communities of Nashua, Manchester and Candia. Rockingham also provide both advanced life support and basic life support level ambulance and wheelchair patient transport services to numerous hospitals and nursing homes in NH. Rockingham is the only commercial ambulance service in New England to have achieved National Accreditation status from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services.

About Road Safety International, Inc.
Road Safety International, Inc. is a privately held company with headquarters in Camarillo, California. Road Safety is an industry leader in the field of fleet management systems, driver training programs, and data acquisition systems.

Road Safety On-Board Computer Systems are successfully utilized on a wide range of emergency response vehicles and equipment including ambulances, fire trucks, police cars, and airport crash rescue equipment. The company's systems are utilized by US and Canadian Government agencies, utility companies, automobile manufacturers test cars throughout the United States, school buses and thousands of commercial fleet vehicles world wide.

Websites: http://www.roadsafety.com
http://www.rockingham.org

For further information contact:
Chris Stawasz, Executive Director
Rockingham Regional Ambulance, Inc.
PO Box 906
Nashua, NH 03061-0906
Tel: (603) 594-2540
Fax: (603) 598-9403

Jeff Gompert, Vice President
Road Safety International, Inc.
3251 Grande Vista Drive
Thousand Oaks, California 91320-1193
Tel: (800) 252-2594
Fax: (805) 498-0944

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