I’ve noticed 2 different types of ambulances. One looks like a van converted into an ambulance, and the other is somewhat larger and boxy in the back.
Is there any difference between these two? Also, I frequently see the ‘boxy’ version accompany fire trucks; is there something about that kind of ambulance that is useful?
Around here, the fire depasartments use the boxy ones and the vans are all operated by private companies. I’ve never seen a privately operated boxy ambulance, although 25 years or so ago, H.F.D. used the vans and boxies. I’d guess there’s a significant cost differential that is responsible for the public/private divide, but that is strictly a guess.
I’d wager the boxy version has greater capacity for EMT tools & accessories, as well as room to work in.
By the way, are the “boxy” ones you’re referring to the ones that basically have a cab that looks like the cab of a semi-trailer’s tractor?
Boxy and Van, I think that’s what the OP is talking about. The only van ambulance I’ve seen around here was in a junkyard, both public and private use the boxies.
As a firefighter in the late 1970s, I also served as an ambulance attendant. We used the van ambulances at that time, but after I left, the department upgraded to the boxy ones. As was said before, they have more room for gear and more room to work. They may be a bit slower and less maneuverable, but I don’t know.
We also kept on hand a couple of Cadillac hearse-style ambulances, especially for long-distance transfers where not a whole lot of gear was needed. Smoother ride out on the highway, but the low roof was sometimes a problem. I once had to hold an IV bottle out the window for three hours, to get it high enough to drip.
Type I Truck cab with narrow body
Type II Van style
Type III Van cab with expanded box
The advantages and disadvantages are interesting. I’ve ridden in both as an EMT.
Box Type: They are taller and wider. This can make for INCREDIBLY difficult maneuvering in Hospital Ambulance Bays, tight parking lots and driveways. They have a higher specific center of gravity and therefore can roll over a bit easier than van types. The Pros is that you have a CPR bench on the other side of the patient’s body from where you typically have a bench in the rig. The secondary bench is REALLY helpful when doing CPR, you can lean over and do full force compressions and not get in the way of the Paramedic who is pushing IV drugs at the same time, AND not be in the way of the other crew member who is sitting in the Captain’s Chair, bagging said patient. They frequently have Inside/Outside doors, so that the same gear you can access from within, can be gotten from without. A big timesaver.
Van type rigs: You can drive them anywhere you can drive a regular van. They’re not as heavy, they fit in tighter spots and don’t risk banging into low overhangs. You do not have access to the patient on the other side- the patient’s right side. This means for tighter rougher CPR work- I have more than once had to straddle the stretcher to do compressions.
Incidentally, let us be very clear here. The two kinds of rigs are different in size, but the USE of the rig is solely by how it is outfitted and State Certified. That is to say, the Paramedic Company I work for now ( I’m training as a Dispatcher ) runs almost exclusively Van types, but 98% of their crews are Paramedic ALS crews, not EMT BLS crews. The vans may be smaller, but they are equipped with gear that allows a Paramedic to do their work. Since the difference is typically in the kinds of jump bags you pack, and what you pack into them, the same basic bus can be an EMT ( BLS is Basic Life Support, Paramedic is ALS, or Advanced Life Support ) or Paramedic rig, depending on the goodies you carry in it. The KIND of vehicle is in fact irrelevant from everything I have seen riding. I mean, you can’t use a private car, because you cannot legally transport someone unless you have them in a stretcher, but a Van doesn’t always equal BLS just as a larger Truck doesn’t alway equal Paramedic.
Cartooniverse, NYS EMT.
I cannot find a good picture, but when I was in Montréal, Canada in the mid 1990s, I remember their Ambulance Service “Urgences-Santé” operated the largest ambulances I’ve ever seen. Nowadays they drive these (msn.com) much smaller vans.
Oh, wait! I found a picture of the kind I mean here (ifrance.com) operated by the Town of Lanaudiere.
The front end looks like something U-Haul would rent to move a whole household cross country. When I asked about the size of their ambu-trucks, I was told that Montreal downtown and freeway traffic conditions being what they were, the ambulances occasionally had need to push gridlocked or ignorant drivers out of the way on the way to a call.
I don’t know if I believe that happens, but I sure do think the sight of one of these rolling up in your rear view mirror would inspire you to yield the lane much quicker than a puny Ford van. In addition to manoeuvrability and fitting into tight bays, is “Get Out Of The WAY” a consideration when a municipality or private ambulance operator decides on a fleet of vehicles? Would they really ever bumper-car someone out of the way?
The fire departments here use the “boxy” units, and the private services use both kinds. The “specialty” units, like the mobile NICUs, are boxy units. It’s interesting that Baltimore City’s “reserve” units are vans.
Darn, sorry. I do not know how to deal with the strange URL of the first picture I linked. Here is the link a different way:
http://groups.msn.com/4k7an83mrko9/photourgmtl20022003.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=231
I can say with a fairly high level of certainty that there isn’t an ambulance service in the United States- municipal, volunteer or private but for profit that would EVER advocate the use of an Ambulance to push a vehicle out of the way.
Using an ambulance as a weapon is anathema to everything that EMS stands for. It simply is not possible, IMHO. Not as a formal proceedure, not as an informal rule, not even as something done a few times but overlooked as not so bad.
It’s illegal. It’s dangerous. It’s a liability risk. It makes your organization look like a bunch of lethal buffoons instead of careful professional care-givers.
Did I mention how dangerous it would be? “Bumper-Car”-ing someone out of the way? No way.
How odd. If my family member died because an ambulance couldn’t get past a car, I’d sue the car’s owner first, but I’d take a good hard look at the ambulance, too. I’ve seen pictures of flattened (and otherwise mutilated) cars parked in firelanes and in front of firehouses. Cheered me to no end.
Cite, please? I’ve seen flattened cars or badly wrecked cars near firehouses too. This is G.Q., you make a statement of fact, you have to back it up with cite proof. Nobody here-especially myself- will believe that you’ve seen such a thing just because you say you’ve seen such a thing. Sorry.
Cars on the side of the road? Untowed wrecks. Cars near firehourses? They’re used for Fire Training, and have no bearing on an ambulance-on-car or fire truck-on-car accident.
You can take all the good hard looks that you want to, since you’re stating a highly emotionally charged hypothetical situation. I’ve spent thousands of hours in real live ambulances.
It is not policy, it is not law and you know what- it is not moral to even debate ramming into a vehicle filled with passengers to clear it out of the way. However, I respect your right to start such a debate- over in G.D..
I will be very interested to see your cites proving where this has been done and either approved of as policy, or has resulted in ANYTHING other than criminal prosecution of the ambulance driver.
On the other hand, as soon as I get ahold of the Training Supervisor at work, will indeed provide cite with name, municipality and year of accident, along with details of the conviction, resulting from an ambulance striking a car with adults and children inside.
Cartooniverse
I think Nametag’s referring to the practice of fire crews taking the short way (through the windows) of getting a hose past an unattended car parked in front of a hydrant. Totally different situation than the bumper-car ambulance, though.
Ahhh, That’s a horse of a different color. I was responding directly to the concept of “flattened cars”, etc. That indicates a vehicle-on-vehicle impact.
I am in complete agreement with the idea that personal property is meaningless next to a single human life. Punch out the windows, to get a fire house through. By all means. And, if a car got its bumper and rear panels crunched, by a fire engine pushing it out of the way to clear a fireplug, then since they were in violation of the law by blocking the fireplug ( and therefore endangering lives ), more power to the truck driver.
Ramming a vehicle with live passengers in it because an ambulance is blocked is totally different, however. I would hope that this isn’t policy in Canada ( where fluoextinchcl is from, according to the post ).
It’s the lives, not the property that I hold so precious.
