Wheeled Coach built this Type 3 ambulance for Ann Arbor (MI) Fire Department on a Chevrolet G4500 cab and chassis powered by a 6.6-liter gasoline engine. (Photos courtesy of Wheeled Coach, except where noted.)

By Alan M. Petrillo

The Ann Arbor (MI) Fire Department has put a Type 3 Wheeled Coach ambulance in its emergency medical services (EMS) running order, complementing an existing Road Rescue Type 3 already running basic life support (BLS)/transport calls.

Mike Kennedy, Ann Arbor’s fire chief, points out that the department only recently got into the EMS transport business. “Prior to getting the ambulances, we were running a pickup truck for first response EMS and also tying up suppression companies on those kinds of calls where they were first response BLS units, something they continue to do,” Kennedy says. “So, in order to release the pressure on those units, we were able to get some funding to purchase the two ambulances to handle BLS and transport calls.”

The Type 3 for Ann Arbor has a patient module that’s 170-inches long, and 95-inches wide, with 72-inches of headroom.

The new rig has a custom stair chair pocket in the L6 compartment at the right rear of the box.

Kennedy notes that the University of Michigan has a major trauma center in Ann Arbor, and that a third party EMS agency provides advanced life support (ALS) response. “Our biggest issue in getting ambulances for BLS was availability with the chaos in the market right now, meaning we couldn’t be picky in what we were asking for in a rig,” he says. “We checked with vendors as to the stock units that they had available or those which would be available soon and first got the Road Rescue and more recently the Wheeled Coach Type 3.”

Greg DeForge, Wheeled Coach’s sales manager, says the rig Ann Arbor purchased is built on a Chevrolet G4500 cab and chassis with a 170-inch long patient module that’s 95-inches wide with 72-inches of headroom, powered by a 6.6-liter gasoline engine. The rig has a wheelbase of 159-inches, an overall length of 23-feet 3-inches, an overall height of 8-feet 11-inches, and four compartments on each side of the body.

The L4 compartment at the left rear of the module holds the crew’s turnout gear and SCBA air packs.

The action area on the left interior wall of the rig, between the CPR seat and the attendant’s seat. (Photo courtesy of Ann Arbor Fire Department.)

“All of our staff are cross trained as firefighters/emergency medical technicians (EMT),” Kennedy says, “so we have the L4 compartment on the left side of the ambulance that holds firefighting turnout gear and two self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), along with some hand tools. That equipment is located in the same spot on both our Wheeled Coach and Road Rescue rigs.”

Mark Genzink, general manager of GMI Emergency Vehicles Plus, who sold the Wheeled Coach to Ann Arbor, says the ambulance has a CoolBar air conditioning condenser on the top front of the rig, a custom stair chair pocket in the L6 compartment on the right rear of the box, a Stryker PowerLOAD floor mount, a large digital clock in the patient compartment, a Zorg driver/patient view camera, a recessed sharps and waste container at the head of the squad bench, dual seats on the squad bench, and Per4Max four-point harnesses on all seating positions.

Ann Arbor’s new Wheeled Coach has a Stryker PowerLOAD and PowerCOT. (Photo courtesy of Ann Arbor Fire Department.)

All seating positions in the new rig are protected by Per4Max four-point harnesses. (Photo courtesy of Ann Arbor Fire Department.)

He notes that the rig has a Whelen electronic siren and speaker, an aluminum custom console in the cab, a Kussmaul 20-amp auto eject shoreline, and lighting that includes Whelen LED M2 and M7 emergency, directional and tail/brake lights, Whelen M9 LED scene lights, and Whelen LED interior dome 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.