Owensboro Health – Muhlenberg (KY) EMS Puts New AEV Traumahawk Type 3 Rig into Fleet
An ambulance is photographed in front of a mountain vista.

American Emergency Vehicles built this Type 3 Traumahawk ambulance on a Ford E-450 4×2 chassis for Owensboro Health – Muhlenberg (KY) EMS. (Photo courtesy of American Response Vehicles.)

By Alan M. Petrillo

Owensboro Health – Muhlenberg (KY) EMS is a community ambulance service owned and operated by Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital in Greenville, Kentucky, that handles 911 calls, hospital transfers and transports for the 35,000 residents of rural Muhlenberg County. The EMS service wanted to replace one of its older ambulances and turned to American Emergency Vehicles for a new Type 3 rig.

“We have eight ambulances that are staffed by three 24-hour crews by our 22 full-time paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and 16 part-time paramedics and EMTs,” says Troy Walker, director of EMS at the ambulance service. “Last year we handled more than 6,000 runs. We operate in a rural setting and there are times when we have multiple patients and have to transport two in a rig, so that was a consideration in our new ambulance.”

The custom console in the cab of the AEV Type 3 Traumahawk. (Photo courtesy of American Response Vehicles.)

Walker notes that he and two graphics designers put together a new exterior detail package for the EMS service that is being used on all their rigs. He adds, “Assisting with the design and approval of the graphics was Jessica Browning, marketing specialist at our hospital, who recently lost her battle with cancer. She will be missed but not forgotten.”

The new rig has a pass through window from the cab to the patient module. (Photo courtesy of American Response Vehicles.)

Rickie Driskill, regional sales manager for American Response Vehicles, who sold the AEV Type 3 to Owensboro Health – Muhlenberg EMS, says the Type 3 Traumahawk is built on a Ford E-450 4×2 chassis, with a patient module that’s 164-inches long and 95-inches wide with 72-inches of headroom, powered by a 7.3-liter V8 gasoline engine.

The new AEV Type 3 has an M1A compartment above the oxygen compartment that holds a Vanner LifeSine inverter and a suction pump. (Photo courtesy of American Response Vehicles.)

Driskill says the new AEV Type 3 Traumahawk has a 3-inch drop skirt, Star Burst running boards, diamond plate skirt rails, a custom center console in the cab, a secure idle system, a Whelen dual tone siren, a 20-amp super auto eject shoreline system, USB outlets in the cab and in the patient module, power door locks, a hidden unlock switch, an OEM backup camera, a flip-up rear bumper, a stair chair compartment, and a Zico electric oxygen tank lift in the M1 compartment.

The rig has a digital clock on the wall above the rear entry doors. (Photo courtesy of American Response Vehicles.)

He points out that the Owensboro Health – Muhlenberg EMS rig has a M1A exterior compartment above the oxygen tank compartment that holds a Vanner LifeSine inverter and a suction pump. “Creating the M1A compartment and locating that equipment in a space that had been unused in the past, frees up compartment space elsewhere on the body,” Driskill says.

The Owensboro Health – Muhlenberg EMS Type 3 is powered by a 7.3-liter V8 gasoline engine and has Whelen LED 600 and 900 series warning and scene lighting. (Photo courtesy of Owensboro Health – Muhlenberg EMS.)

Inside the patient module, the EMS service chose to have a two position squad bench, as well as a CPR seat and attendant’s seat. All seating positions are protected by Per4Max® four-point harnesses. Also inside are a digital clock over the rear doors, a wall-mounted sharps container, handicap-style door handles, solid surface counter tops, and an inside/outside access cabinet at the left rear of the body.

A paramedic loads a Stryker PowewLOAD cot into the new rig. (Photo courtesy of Owensboro Health – Muhlenberg EMS.)

Walker notes that the EMS crews like the addition of the M1A compartment, “because it gives us a lot more usable space down low which the crews have put to good use. We also like the vented air system that runs down the length of the patient module, which provides an even distribution of air, and also the extra insulation package that improves climate control, deadens sound and gives us and our patients a much quieter ride.”

A paramedic resupplies an EMS bag in the back of the new Type 3. (Photo courtesy of Owensboro Health – Muhlenberg EMS.)

Driskill adds that the improved climate control in the rig also is a result of a second air conditioning condenser, an Arctic Wedge at the top front of the patient module. “The Arctic Wedge is designed with 45-degree sides that carry warning and scene lights for greater visibility,” he says. Lighting on the AEV Type 3 Traumahawk includes Whelen 900 series LED emergency lighting, Whelen 600 and 900 series LED scene lighting, Whelen 900 series taillights, LED cab step lights, and LED strip lighting in exterior compartments.

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.

American Emergency Vehicles built this Type 3 Traumahawk ambulance on a Ford E-450 4x2 chassis for Owensboro Health - Muhlenberg EMS.

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