Ambulances are trucks that carry medical equipment to treat and transport ill and injured patients. There are three care levels that local EMS provides: Rescue (basic life support calls), Trauma (severely injured or life threatening calls), and Medic (life taking calls). The minimum manning for ambulances is 2 personnel: Rescue - a driver EMT-B and a patient care attendant EMT-B, Trauma - a driver EMT-B and a patient care attendant EMT-ST, Medic - a driver EMT-B and a patient care attendant EMT-C or EMT-P. CARS operates seven ambulances.
Medic units are capable of providing advanced life support (IV and drugs) to critically ill/injured persons. Medic units carry electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring equipment, pacemakers, drugs, advanced airway care equipment and other items for the critical patient. Medic units are normally dispatched on heart attacks, trouble breathing, unconscious person and other such calls. All of CARS ambulances are equipped as medic units.
Ambulances have different types of construction.
Type I Ambulance - has a pick-up truck chassis with a box mounted as the patient care compartment. The type I ambulance is expensive in the short-run, but is cheap in the long-run since the box can be mounted on another chassis when the old chassis wears out. The type I ambulance tends to be wide (and therefore roomy inside) and is generally unsuitable for rural use due to narrow roads. CARS owns five 4-wheel drive Type I ambulances.
Type II Ambulance - is a highly modified van. This is the cheapest in terms of initial outlay, but when the chassis wears out the entire unit must be replaced. These trucks are ideal for urban use due to their small profile, but interior space is very limited. CARS ownes one 4-wheel drive Type II ambulance.
Type III Ambulance - has a van chassis with a box mounted as the patient care compartment. These trucks tend to be the most expensive, but the box can be remounted to a new chassis when the old one wears out. These trucks tend to be very steady and offer the most interior room available. CARS owns two 2-wheel drive type III ambulances.
Medic 140 is a 2002 Ford/AEV 2-wd type III ambulance. The box has a lot of open space that enables paramedics ample room for patient treatment. The engine is an International 7.3 liter turbo-diesel which has more than enough power. The truck has an air ride suspension so we can lower the rear to make loading/unloading patients easier. We also had the center of gravity lowered by having the box height lowered to our specs. We polled all of our paramedics for suggestions to improve the patient compartment and incorporated these suggestions in the final specification.
As with all of CARS apparatus fleet, this unit is equipped with the Opticom traffic signal control system. Opticom sends a coded signal during emergency response that turns the intersection light green, allowing safe passage. Anytime you are at a traffic light and a white light starts flashing, an emergency vehicle is approaching.
