Ambulances Designed For Safety, Specific Needs PDF

04/04/2019 Ambulances Designed for Safety, Specific Needs
Ambulance Designs Evolving to

Meet Specific Customer Needs
11/09/2017
By Alan M. Petrillo
Ambulance Designs Evolving to Meet

Speci c Customer Needs
By Alan M. Petrillo
Standardized lines of ambulance models continue to see strong

customer support, but most manufacturers also are altering
their designs to accommodate speci c requests from end
users.
Ambulance designs are changing to re ect not only safety concerns from customers
but also specific requirements for equipment placement.
https://www.fireapparatusmagazine.com/articles/print/volume-22/issue-11/features/ambulance-deigns-evolving-to-meet-specific-customer-needs.… 1/10
1 Demers Ambulances USA Inc. has seen many customers choose a captain’s chair on a sliding and rotating
track instead of a squad bench on the curbside of the module where the medic can stay seated and belted yet
still treat a patient. (Photos 1-3 courtesy of Demers Ambulances USA Inc.)
PATIENT MODULE TRANSPORT

Steve Rowland, regional sales manager for USA South at Demers Ambulances USA
Inc., says that many of the design changes on Demers ambulances involve mobility
seating within the patient module. “We are seeing more and more departments go to
a captain’s chair on a sliding and rotating track on the curb side of the module where
they can treat a patient,” Rowland says. “We are seeing more of them replacing the
squad bench, although the industry probably will never fully get away from the
traditional squad bench.”
If a second patient needs to be transported in an ambulance with a curbside

captain’s chair, Rowland says the design can accommodate such a situation. “That
curbside mobility seat back folds forward, and the medics can quickly screw two
panels into the module’s wall to support a backboard for a second patient,” he says.
2 The curbside captain’s chair in this Demers ambulance can be rotated 180 degrees and faces forward during
transport but can face 45 or 90 degrees toward the cot to treat a patient.
Rowland notes that when using a captain’s chair, it is much easier for a medic to
treat a patient while seated and buckled up in a harness. “The captain’s chair can
rotate forward for a long transport and has a total of 180 degrees of rotation,” he
points out. “However, typically it is forward-facing, at a 45-degree angle toward the
head of the cot or at a 90-degree angle to the cot.”
3 Demers has installed sealed PPE compartments on some ambulances sta ed by re ghters to hold their
PPE securely and apart from the cab and patient module interior to prevent contamination.
The captain’s chair usually is located at the midpoint of the cot on the right side, he
adds, and will have a medical cabinet, defibrillator, and monitor mounted nearby.
“It’s important to give the medics the tools they need that are nearby and reachable
so they can treat the patient but while still buckled into the seat,” Rowland observes.
He notes that in most patient transport situations, the primary care position is
usually at the curbside seat, while the captain’s chair position at the head of the cot
most often is committed to maintaining an airway on the patient.
Chad Newsome, national sales manager for PL Custom Emergency Vehicles, says that
in terms of ambulance design for safety, “we want to keep butts in the seats. We
have the Medic In Mind system, where the person working with the patient is able to
stay seated and belted in and yet can still reach all of the equipment needed to treat
the patient.” Newsome adds that the design of PL Custom’s ambulances include
radiused strike points in all of its modules to prevent injuries. “All strike points on
our Corian-type countertops are cut at 45-degree angles,” he says, “and all seats with
swivel bases have six-point harnesses.”
4 PL Custom Emergency Vehicles makes the Medic In Mind system for the interior of its ambulances where the
medic working with a patient can stay seated and belted in and still reach all the equipment needed to treat
the patient. (Photo courtesy of PL Custom Emergency Vehicles.)
Chad Brown, vice president of sales and marketing for Braun Industries Inc., notes
that Braun designs its seating configurations and seat belt restraint systems with
ergonomics of the medics in mind. “We usually place heavy-use items beside the
seating instead of in the overheads,” he says. “We’ve done ride-alongs with
customers to visualize where and how they use their equipment and make
suggestions on where they could be located in the module. Cabinets, cot retention,
and seat belt restraint systems testing has been a big focus for us in the past 24
months.”
Braun also has been seeing a move away from the squad bench by ambulance
customers, Brown points out. “They are moving to the captain’s chair that swivels
and slides forward and backward at the side of the cot,” he says. “When they are
transporting, the chair is in a forward-facing position, and the medic is in a four-
point harness.” However, Brown notes, there continues to be a need for the squad
bench, especially in more rural areas of the country where a long ride to a hospital
might require the ambulance to carry a second patient. “It’s still 50/50, captain’s
chair to squad bench right now,” he observes.
Dave Seitsinger, regional sales manager for Life Line Emergency Vehicles, says his
company specializes in out-of-the-ordinary Type 1, Type 3, and neonatal ambulance
units. He notes Life Line uses the It Means Safety (IMS) design on the inside of the
module, installing either two individual captain’s chairs or one captain’s chair and a
squad bench. “Usually we’ll have all the equipment either at the head or the foot of
the cot,” Seitsinger points out.
For those departments that choose a captain’s chair on the curbside of the module
but need to transport a second patient, Seitsinger says, “A lot of individual seats turn
and face forward, then fold down so they could accept a backboard for a second
patient.” He adds that Life Line’s captain’s chairs and squad benches are fitted with
four-point seat belts.
Tommy Pugh, national sales manager for Excellance Inc., says lap belts in the back of
ambulances “are a thing of the past, and multipoint harnesses are the prevailing
theme. And, bucket seating is much more prevalent today as opposed to bench
seating,” he adds.
PATIENT MODULE MOUNTING

Matt Minerd, segment marketing manager for fire and emergency at REV Group,
says REV Group has partnered with Ferno (maker of ambulance cots and stair chairs)
to develop a new ambulance design called REV FLEX. “REV FLEX takes our
ambulance design and couples it with Intraxx, an in-track interior mounting system
that essentially removes the interior cabinets out of the ambulance and replaces
them with a series of tracks that can be moved to hold equipment and cabinet
mounts,” Minerd says.
He points out the system “gives EMS crews the ability to quickly change the function
of the ambulance based on the kind of call they are responding to. They are able to
move the equipment around at any time, including oxygen mounts, defibrillator wall
mounts, and tablet mounts. And, Ferno developed Safe Pack, which gives quick
access to a series of pouches holding supplies.”
Minerd notes that REV FLEX is currently available on REV Group’s AEV, Wheeled
Coach, McCoy Miller, and Leader brands. “The system allows the entire ambulance to
be emptied in minutes so it can be cleaned more e ectively than if it had traditional
cabinets,” Minerd says. “We use an extruded reinforced body on our modules, so we
don’t need cabinets to reinforce the vehicle’s body. In addition, we are working on a
hybrid system that has tracks only on one side of the box for those customers who
desire that configuration.”
VEHICLE DESIGN
Chad Brown from Braun says the company also has been focusing on safety. “We
weld our entire truck and don’t use any glues, tapes, or extrusions,” Brown points
out. “Instead of an extruded aluminum construction, we create a unitized body for a
stronger box that can absorb energy if an accident happens instead of transferring
that energy. The entire design idea is to protect the patient and crew area.”
5 Rounded countertop corners and 45-degree angles on overhead cabinets are designed into Braun
Industries ambulances to improve medic and patient safety inside the ambulance module. (Photos 5 and 6
courtesy of Braun Industries Inc.)
The newest design feature in Life Line’s rigs is the multiplexed Elite G3 system,
Seitsinger says. “There are multiple touch screens in the patient compartment and
in the driver’s area,” he says. “The driver can pull up what’s happening in the rear
compartment and can even control the system from up front. There’s also a
switching system on the side door of the vehicle if you want exterior controls.”
6 Braun Ambulances has found that half of its ambulance customers continue to require a squad bench in
their rigs as opposed to a captain’s chair.
7 This CPR seat on a Life Line Emergency Vehicles ambulance is tted with a four-point harness. (Photos 7-9
courtesy of Life Line Emergency Vehicles.)
Excellance can add a second air-conditioning (AC) and heating unit onto any type of
ambulance chassis, Pugh points out. “We have been focusing on dual independent AC
systems in the module that do not require a generator,” he says. “When run in
unison, you get the compounded e ect of one helping the other, and for a truck
that’s sitting out in the sun for a while, it cools the module down in minutes because
of the dual-capacity AC systems.”
8 Six-point harnesses, like this example on a Life Line Emergency Vehicles ambulance, are gaining in popularity
and, in some cases, mandated by various states.
Pugh says that Excellance has seen an increase in the past year of customers going
bigger with their ambulance chassis. “We are building a lot more quad cab (four-
door) chassis ambulances,” he points out. “We also are building more Mobile Stroke
Units (MSUs), like ones we built for the Cleveland (OH) Clinic, the Phoenix (AZ) Fire
Department, Rush University, and Indianapolis, Indiana. This is a concept that
originated in Germany, but it’s growing in this country, and we expect to see more of
them going into the larger metropolitan areas.”
Braun Industries recently announced a partnership with Pierce Manufacturing Inc.,

to bring the Pierce Saber® chassis to the Braun Patriot ambulance. Kim Braun,
Braun Industries president, notes the resulting apparatus will be versatile and can
serve as an ambulance, rescue vehicle, and fire suppression unit. She says it is ideally
suited for volunteer fire departments without the personnel to sta several
emergency vehicles.
9 This Life Line ambulance has a captain’s chair at the head of the cot, CPR seat on the road side, and squad
bench on the curbside of the module.
SEALED COMPARTMENTS
Rowland notes that when Demers designs ambulances used by fire departments and
sta ed by firefighters, it often has installed personal protective equipment (PPE)
compartments sealed o from the rest of the ambulance. “The sealed PPE
compartment is typically on the street side of the rig,” he points out, “and usually is
a full-depth and ¾-high compartment. It will have brackets for self-contained
breathing apparatus, space to store the turnout gear down low, and a high hanging
position for helmets. It’s really a small PPE locker that’s fully sealed.”
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist, the author of three novels and ve
non ction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment editorial advisory
board. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of
chief.
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04/04/2019 Ambulances Designed for Safety, Specific Needs

Ambulance Designs Evolving to

Ambulance Designs Evolving to Meet

Standardized lines of ambulance models continue to see strong

PATIENT MODULE TRANSPORT

If a second patient needs to be transported in an ambulance with a curbside

PATIENT MODULE MOUNTING

Braun Industries recently announced a partnership with Pierce Manufacturing Inc.,

SECTIONS TOPICS ABOUT NETWORK

Magazine Subscription Newsletter Subscription

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