Medic Response Vehicles

[buckeyedoc]

We have had all kinds of chase vehicles around here.

We did a "study", and found we were spending way too much money on brakes. Because of that, and safety, it was decided to go with a bigger vehicle with strong brakes, the Excursion.

Thanks. That is something to consider. My partner at work owns a body shop/car repair shop on the side. He's been doing that for about 15 years. He and I have yet to sit down and seriously discuss the maintenance aspect of everything.

The other vehicles included in consideration were those available through state contract. They were Tahoe, Cherokee, Expedition, Explorer, Crown Victoria, and Impala. We chose the Excursion because it had the room to put ALS, supervisory, and command stuff, as well as tow our MCI trailers.

For starters, why don't you approach your local government, and have them "give" you one of their retired cruisers.

We've thought about that. They use Crown Vics for their patrol vehicles. We would like to go with something bigger. We are currently looking at a Fleet Lease. That will ensure that warranties are current. That will save on maintenance/repair costs.

I have a meeting with a potential "investor" next Friday morning. It is a local business man who I've known for about 20 years. He is very charitable and is very civic minded. I presented my business plan to him several weeks ago. He was impressed with it. I've talked with his brother about it a bit and he seems interested in financing us. If I know him, he'll give us the start up money with a nominal interest rate. We'll see. Either way, business is business and personal is personal and they won't mix. Wish me luck.

[Eng542ine]

Up here in NJ, every MICU project has its preference and about 100 reasons backing it up. Vehicles are about as varied as the response areas are. I know that's not exactly a help but, I did want to throw in a consideration that a local hospital is getting an expensive lesson in...

PAY ATTENTION TO THE WEIGHT OF THE EQUIPMENT YOU'RE GOING TO LOAD THE VEHICLE WITH, ADD THE WEIGHT OF ANY CABINETRY, AND THEN LOOK AT THE VEHICLES CAPACITY!!!

Sorry about the bold and "yelling" but that can be an extremely expensive lesson to learn and I'd like to think that as a profession we can learn from the mistakes of others.

Good luck shopping....

[KE5EHI]

Our supervisors have an Expedition and our directors have Explorers. I know the Expedition has everything in it they need to work a call besides transporting, along with MCI and ICS stuff in the back. It's roomy enough to hold everything, yet it's not too big like an Excursion. I believe our directors also carry about the same stuff with them in the back of their Explorers, but it's just packed in a little better. Our MMRS (Metro Medical Response) guy has an F-250 with a roll-out bed for MCIs and ICSs because he will usually take over once he relieves the supervisor that has started setting up command. He carries a little extra equipment with him, but he covers the region and not just the city, so he can't just have someone run back and get something he might need.

[PRPGfirerescuetech]

Motorcycles. All im sayin.

[FormerEMSLT297]

In NYC we called them PRU's (Paramedic Response Units) they didn't work but it sounds like it may work well in your situation.

The type of PRU vehicle you want depends heavily on several factors, like weather, terrain responding to, or on, and typed of equipment you want to carry. Having that in mind, I have a couple of questions:

1. What type of geography are you running? Beaches, sand, desert, off road trails like fire roads in forests or parks, lots of rain, or snow in the winter... or r u in the south without snow and/or staying on the hard ball?.

If you have lots of snow, or desert or sandy beaches, or off road stuff like parks and forests,,, you'll want a 4x4.

2. Are you going to eventually have 2 medics in the truck or only 1... cause if you have 2 per vehicle, do you want to have enough room to carry 2 full sets of ALS equipment.. Some medic units do this so that if they have an ALS patient, 1 medic can stay in service while the other rides up to the hospital.

3. Are you going to carry turnout or extrication type gear so you need more room ...

4. and most importantly what is your BUDGET?.... The other thing I would say is DON'T get any vehicle that doesn't have a HEAVY DUTY at least "taxi" if not "Police Package" you'll need it for the extra lights, siren, radios, etc.

My suggestions would be look at Crown vic's,,, Impala's,,(but they are tight for 5'10+ people), also look at the dodge magnum, and chargers, (with police package) or the Station Wagon style (more room for gear)

If you want a 4x4 i never used the Jeep Liberty but my dept used the Cherokee and it SUCKED, seats uncofortable, not lots of room head hit the roof on hard bumps, etc... So look at Tahoe's Yukons, Suburbans, etc, but keep in mind the do burn gas like crazy. If the county if funding the unit maybe they can order the vehicles for you at the fleet discount rate by just adding a vehicle to the Police or FD's next order.

[FormerEMSLT297]

Also I would stay away from Nissan's because when you add radios, flashing lights sirens, etc... the drain on a standard alternator will just be too much to handle.

Go with a heavy duty vehicle that is made with the extra lights and radio harnesses to accomodate all the extra stuff you need.

That way no electrical problems.... There are some companies that specialize in Response vehicles... try www.odysseyauto.com

Many of the South N.J. medic units use this company..... also, I think,, Rockland Paramedic Services in NY did also ..

Anyone from RPS can confirm this ??????

[FormerEMSLT297]

also try www.plcustom.com ... we've gotten several ambulances from them and they were pretty good..... when we did have problems, the company stood behind their product and trouble shot it and fixed whatever minor problem was wrong........

And if budget and size isn't a problem,,,, I like Harley's in the summer time and HUMMER's in the winter time... LOL

Good luck with your project

[zippyRN]

from a Uk point of view - plenty of vehicles avaialbe as emergency services vehicles via their respective manufacturers SVO depts

common response vehicles include

Vauxhall Astras, Zafiras and Vectras

Honda Accord or CRV

Volvo V50 or V70

and interestingly enough some small van based vehicles such as the transit Connect

[buckeyedoc]

I have received a PM regarding our decision for vehicles. We have put all plans on hold due to politics. Apparantly, a few of the voting members of the board of trustees have financial connections to the 2 hospitals I mentioned earlier. They of course would not even hear the plans. The EMA is still interested in what we pitched to them, but are understandably apprehensive. We are still in communication with the county a couple times a month. I attend the trustee meetings just to show them that I'm not going away....in a good way of course. The trustees terms are ending soon and I'll meet with the board and re-pitch the plan. We'll see what happens.

[FSU-EMT]

We have vehicles like this. Our supervisors drive a suburban, then we have 2 jeep cherokees, a blazer, and a ford taurus. We also have a gems golf cart and a regular golf carts. The jeep cherokee is the best, tough enough to jump over curbs and big enough to pack full of equipment.