Hennepin EMS: An Early Partner in On-Stretcher Patient Weighing

In 2024, Hennepin Healthcare Emergency Medical Services was an early partner in bringing OneWeight, the patient scale built for ambulance stretchers, into the field. Deputy Chief of Operations Charles Sloan described how a measured patient weight supports precise, weight-based medication dosing, which matters most in pediatric care.

Ambulance stretchers have traditionally lacked the built-in scales found on hospital beds, so crews often estimate weight when they work out weight-based doses. Hennepin’s team saw OneWeight as a way to take that guesswork out of emergency care.

Estimated weights are a known source of error in prehospital medication dosing. A measured weight supports more confident dosing, especially in time-critical care like stroke treatment, where exact dosing is essential.

Sloan emphasized that innovation is essential to delivering better patient care in EMS. We’re grateful to Hennepin Healthcare EMS for being an early partner, and for helping show what accurate patient weights can do in the field.

To learn more, read the full article on JEMS or watch the video interview on Fox 9 News.

Revised September 2026