Do I Need a Special EMS & Ambulance Backboard for Wilderness Rescues? When you are included in wilderness rescues, you will probably need a narrower board to make sure you can move a patient through tight spaces. And you will also want an EMS & Ambulance backboard setup that allows you to strap them in tight so that they don’t move at all. This is especially important when you need to maneuver patients or when you need to airlift them out of a wild area. What Features Should I Look for That Will Protect the Patient's Spine? High quality EMS & ambulance backboards will include not only separate holes through which to thread head straps, but also cushions for the sides of the head to prevent movement of the head, no matter how much the patient moves. This feature is crucial for those transporting patients in an emergency setting as some patients can become disoriented and might thrash around uncontrollably. Where Should I Store EMS & Ambulance Backboards? This answer is quite self-explanatory if you are in an emergency capacity – in the vehicle itself. But for transporting patients from room to room in a hospital, you might want to store these with the stretchers and the beds as this is where you will be doing most of your patient transfers and the location makes practical sense.