Ambulance Safety Innovations Are Prevalent At FDIC
By Ed Ballam

Innovations in ambulance designs emphasizing safety, mobility and efficiency stood out this year at the April Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) trade show.

Most prominent among the ambulance makers exhibiting their products were McCoy Miller, Braun Ambulance, and Road Rescue.

McCoy Miller debuted a revolutionary unit with side-load patient access to the box using a transverse cot mounting system. The design eliminates the side-facing seating position, keeping EMS attendants facing either forward or backward.

Research, according to the company, has shown the side-facing seating position subjects occupants to more serious injuries or death, even when seat belted, than those facing the front or the rear of the ambulance.

“We just finished this about a week ago,” said Lance Streitmatter, a sales engineer for McCoy Miller. “It is a brand new design and a brand new concept.”

The ambulance has two extra-wide sliding side doors, which provide access to the patient from either side. The sliding doors offer less obstruction at emergency scenes and in garages and are less likely to be affected in windy situations, according to the maker.

As a concept vehicle, the McCoy Miller ambulance will be traveling to many of the major EMS shows across the country, and company representatives are expecting to collect and analyze end user comments as future iterations of the vehicle are designed.

The unit, which was built on a Ford E450 cab and chassis, is compliant with US General Services Administration (GSA) KKK specification, according to Streitmatter, who said the unit received considerable attention at the FDIC trade show in Indianapolis, Ind.

“Lot’s of people said they really like the idea,” he said, noting that safety was the prime objective in the design.

The ambulance was built to address challenges detailed in an article published in 2003 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) titled “Ambulance Crash-Related Injuries Among Emergency Medical Services Workers – United States 1991-2002.”

The article stated: “Ambulance manufacturers should evaluate and develop occupant protection systems designed to increase the crash survivability of EMS workers and patients in ambulance patient compartments and ensure that such systems allow EMS workers mobility to access patients and equipment.”

McCoy Miller’s ambulance reduces cabinets and obstructions in head strike zones and has seating positions that give attendants access to the patient and controls while remaining seat-belted. In the event of a frontal accident, the company said the design provides the potential for an evenly applied force along the length of the patient, thereby reducing isolated strain points.

Road Rescue was aiming for the same goal – occupant safety – with the introduction of its new unit, which the company calls a Patient-Centric Concept Ambulance.

Three such units were on display in Road Rescue’s booth at FDIC and President Gary DeCosse explained the new design.

“We started with a bare box, put the cot in the center of it and then put everything in around it,” DeCosse said. “Until now, all ambulance designs were made without the cot in place. So, we put the cot in and everything is centered on the patient. That’s why we call it a Patient-Centric Concept Ambulance.”

Besides the location of the cot squarely in the center of the floor, one notable difference with the Road Rescue unit is a specially designed overhead longitudinal trough directly above the cot. The trough contains medical equipment, zone lighting and ventilation for patient comfort and several grab rails for safety.

A switch panel is also mounted in the overhead trough allowing EMS attendants to remain buckled in while working on the patient and operating the ambulance controls, DeCosse said. A second set of identical controls on the driver’s side wall on a swivel gives the lead attendant and the person in the squad seat equal access to the panel, he pointed out.

Road Rescue designers included some good details, like installing examination glove box holders in the ceiling for easy access and using optional antimicrobial coatings on more than 90 percent of the vehicle’s interior surface, including upholstered seats and cabinet padding.

“We are really trying to think about what goes on inside an ambulance and come up with something that best meets the needs of the patients as well as the EMS providers,” DeCosse said.

Braun Ambulance also displayed a unit at FDIC with unique features, primarily in the cab area. A bright lime green ambulance, ready to go into service with Miami Dade Fire Rescue, was featured prominently in the center of Braun’s booth. It was the first ambulance on a purpose built Spartan Furion four-door cab and chassis.

Introduced last year, the Spartan Furion cab and chassis provides customers with the features and reliability of Spartan without all the bells and whistles of a high-end custom truck, keeping the price affordable, according to the maker. The Furion was created to be competitive with commercially available cabs and chassis.

Crediting Chief Fernandez
Both Spartan and Braun credit Miami-Dade Division Chief Fernando Fernandez for the unique vehicle.

Rich Schalter, president of Spartan Motors Chassis, said the Braun/Spartan ambulance started as an idea that Fernandez had sketched out roughly on a piece of paper.

“He asked us if we could do something like that, and we of course said, ‘Yeah, we can do that,’” Schalter said. He added that the Furion cab and chassis is a good platform for an ambulance because it is dependable, affordable and comfortable, with air ride suspension and a quiet cab.

Extending The Life Cycle
Fernandez said he saw the Furion cab and chassis as a mock up in the research and development phase at Spartan’s factory in Charlotte, Mich., while on a visit for a cab and chassis inspection. He said he’s very pleased with Spartan products.

Miami-Dade has ambulances built on International and Freightliner cabs and chassis, which have a life cycle of about five years, but Fernandez said he hopes to get seven years out of the Spartan cabs and chassis. “Spartans are better trucks, and they are more maneuverable,” he said.

Fernandez, who is in charge of purchasing for Miami-Dade, said his department has been using four-door cabs and chassis for its ambulances because they are staffed by firefighters who are expected to fight fires when not attending to patients on medical calls.

“We ask a lot from our personnel, so we’ve got to give them equipment that will do the job” he said.