MOULTRIE, Ga. — A $43,500 purchase could cut down on the number of calls for firefighters to help load patients into ambulances and cut the time it takes to get them to the hospital.

Assisting paramedics in lifting patients makes up a significant number of calls answered by the Moultrie Fire Department — about 10 percent last year. In 2018, out of 718 total calls firefighters were dispatched solely to provide lifting assistance 76 times.

In contrast, there were only 32 fire calls for the year. Another 231 were medical calls, some of which involved lifting.

On Tuesday Colquitt County Commission agreed to purchase two self-loading stretchers at a cost of $43,052.

That could cut down on calls for firefighters to help with lifting patients into ambulances, but even more important shave time off the time it takes to get patients to the care of doctors, Moultrie Fire Chief Lamar Plymel said.

Stretchers themselves are fairly heavy, he said, and when a patient is 200 pounds or more it can be a tough job for two paramedics to get them into the ambulance. In cases where patients are alert they can help get onto the stretcher but not in getting loaded up.

“If you look at it, that speeds up the process of getting them to the hospital,” he said. “The biggest thing is they (paramedics) are waiting on our help. If it takes us four minutes to get there, that delays (patients) getting the help they need.”

Volunteer firefighters in the county probably get many more lifting calls than the city, Plymel said.

“It’s really needed in the county,” he said.

In other business Tuesday, commissioners:

• Approved two requests for land use made by Rockbridge Energy for solar panel projects.

The planned solar arrays are on properties 45.16 acres and 36.55 acres, both on U.S. Highway 319 North.

These two projects and a third approved earlier for another company that is located close to Highway 319 North are thought to be the only three that have been approved as contractors for Georgia Power Co.’s solar program, said Colquitt County Compliance Office Justin Cox.

Several other large tracts have been approved for potential siting of solar panels, including one of 250 acres and one of 800 acres that is sited on five or six different farms.

In a separate request, commissioners approved a request to rezone 1 acre at 1532 Ladson Road from agricultural to manufacturing for the manufacture of precast concrete products.

• Agreed to purchase a side-loader garbage truck at the price of $291,209 that will effectively cost $136,209 as there is a guaranteed buy-back for the truck after three years at a price of $155,000; and to purchase a rear-loading truck that costs $347,819 with an agreement for the seller to buy it back for $162,000 after two years.