Horton Emergency Vehicles built this Type 2 ambulance on an International MV chassis with a two-door cab and a 623 ambulance body for Howard County (MD) Fire Rescue. (Photos courtesy of FESCO Emergency Sales.)
By Alan M. Petrillo
Howard County (MD) Fire Rescue has taken delivery of another Horton ambulance for its fleet and assigned it to the West Friendship Volunteer Fire Company.
Howard County Fire Rescue is an all-hazards agency handling fire suppression, rescue, and advanced life support (ALS) and basic life support (BLS) transport emergency medical services (EMS) from 14 fire stations with 600 paid full-time firefighter/paramedic/EMTs, and 400 volunteer paramedics and EMTs.
The Howard County rig is powered by a 260-hp Cummins B 6.7-liter engine and an Allison 2200 EVS automatic transmission.
The new Horton Type 2 for Howard County has a door-forward design, called by Horton a crash barrier design.
Martin Pat LePore, Howard County’s fire chief, says the department runs 14 frontline ALS ambulances staffed by full-time firefighter/medics, and four BLS transport ambulances staffed by full-time firefighter/medics and/or volunteer crews.
“The new Horton ambulance we recently received was replaced on our five year schedule, and the rig it replaced went to a second line unit,” LePore observes.”
The door forward design allowed Horton to install a full height set of cabinets at the front of the squad bench, including a Knox Medi-Vault at the top.
The streetside interior cabinetry and CPR seat on the rig.
Pete Laake Jr., president of FESCO Emergency Sales, who sold the Horton Emergency Vehicles Type 2 rig to Howard County Fire Rescue, says the department’s new ambulance is built on an International MV chassis with a two-door cab and a 623 ambulance body that’s 173-inches long, has 74-inches of headroom, and a six-inch drop skirt. Wheelbase on the rig is 175-inches.
Laake points out that the Horton is powered by a 260-horsepower (hp) Cummins B 6.7-liter engine and an Allison 2200 EVS automatic transmission. He notes that the rig has Liquid Spring rear suspension and air brakes, a Kussmaul 30-amp Super Auto-Eject, and that the patient module has a Cool Tech II condenser on the front of the box, and the module is of the door forward design on the curb side, which Horton designates as its crash barrier design.
The door forward design allows for cabinetry at the head of the squad bench, Laake notes, and Howard County chose to have a full height set of cabinets in that location as opposed to the typical half-height cabinets.
“Above those cabinets is a wireless Knox Medi-Vault, and to the rear of the squad bench is an IV drawer and a LifePak monitor in a Technimount bracket,” he says. “There’s a second Technimount bracket on the street side of the rig’s interior.”
The rig carries a center-mounted Stryker PowerLOAD and Power COT.
The Horton Type 2 for Howard County has the Horton Occupant Protection System™ with MBrace™ as a safety system for the medics inside the patient module.
LePore says that Howard County’s staff likes the safety features on the interior of the rig, especially the Horton Occupant Protection System™ (HOPS) with MBrace™, which is designed to protect medics in both frontal impacts and rollover events. The MBrace advanced frontal impact safety system integrates an airbag into a four-point retractable harness for the attendant seat and for side-facing positions, which include the CPR seat and squad bench.
LePore adds that the new Horton carries a center-positioned Stryker PowerLOAD and PowerCOT, as is standard on all Howard County EMS rigs, and a Horton 360 degree camera system that gives the driver views forward, left, right and to the rear.
Lighting on the vehicle, Laake says, includes Whelen LED emergency and scene lighting, and TecNiq LED ground lighting and rub rail identity lighting.
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.
