Wheeled Coach built this Type 1 ambulance on a Ford F-450 4×4 chassis for Ellendale (ND) Community Ambulance Service. (Photos courtesy of Everest Emergency Vehicles Inc.)
By Alan M. Petrillo
Wheeled Coach has delivered a Type 1 4×4 ambulance with an upgraded insulation package and custom cabinet locations to Ellendale (ND) Community Ambulance Service.
Greg DeForge, sales manager for Wheeled Coach, says the new Type 1 is on a Ford F-450 4×4 chassis and two person cab, with a patient module that’s 170-inches long, and 95-inches wide, with 74-inches of interior headroom. Wheelbase on the rig is 193-inches, overall length is 25-feet 5-inches, and overall height is 9-feet 4-inches.
The Ellendale Type 1 has a 170-inch long patient module that’s 95-inches wide with 74-inches of interior headroom.
DeForge points out that the Ellendale Type 1 has a Liquid Spring rear axle, a Ranch Hand brush guard, a CoolBar 50,000 British thermal unit external condenser, a 4-inch drop skirt, and a breakaway rear bumper.
The Wheeled Coach Type 1 has a 50,000-BTU CoolBar external condenser on the front of the box.
Ross Taylor, regional sales manager for Everest Emergency Vehicles Inc., who sold the Type 1 to Ellendale Community Ambulance Service, says Ellendale required several specific upgrades to the rig. “They wanted some custom cabinet locations, and upgraded to a severe weather insulation package,” Taylor points out.
Ellendale’s new rig has two seating positions on the squad bend on the curb side of the patient module.
“In the patient module, there’s R11 batten insulation in the ceiling and walls, as well as 3M foil insulation, plus an added one-inch of foam insulation in the walls and roof. Also, the underbody is sprayed with a rubberized foam to deaden sound and provide additional insulation.”
The front of the Wheeled Coach Type 1 carries a Ranch Hand brush guard.
DeForge says the Ellendale rig is prewired for a Styker PowerLOAD system, has four seating positions in the patient box, all protected by Per4Max four-point harnesses, a child seat built into the attendant’s seat, a backup camera with a color monitor, backboards in a curb side rear compartment, and inside/outside access to the number four compartment on the right rear of the box that also holds a stair chair.
Taylor notes that the Ellendale Type 1 has a Vanner Lifesine inverter, Whelen 900 series LED emergency and scene lighting, Whelen Ion LED grill and intersection lights, Whelen LED interior and compartment strip lighting, and a Whelen siren.
Some of the custom cabinetry in the Ellendale rig.
“At the rear patient doors, recessed on the interior street side, is a four slot glove butler that frees up space on the action counter,” Taylor says, “and the inner rear door panels have reflective rear chevrons that match the rear white and green reflective Scotchlite.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist, the author of three novels and five nonfiction 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.
