Wheeled Coach built this Type 1 ambulance on a Ford F-450 two-door cab and 4×4 chassis powered by a 6.7-liter diesel engine for Espanola (NM) Fire/Rescue Department. (Photos courtesy of Siddons-Martin Emergency Group)
By Alan M. Petrillo
Espanola (NM) Fire/Rescue Department provides fire, rescue, and emergency medical services (EMS) response to the 10,500 residents of the eight-square-mile city of Espanola in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, from three stations by 15 full-time paid firefighter/emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and a paid chief, assistant chief, and fire inspector/investigator.
Espanola Fire Marshal Pablo Montoya says the department wanted to replace an older advanced life support (ALS) ambulance and was fortunate enough to get a grant that allowed it to purchase a new rig. “Our older unit, a Braun Type 1 ambulance that was going to go into reserve status was only a two-wheel drive unit, so we knew we wanted to upgrade to a four-wheel drive rig,” Montoya points out. “We also needed plenty of exterior compartment space on the new ambulance for firefighter turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) air packs, and wanted to upgrade the unit to have a severe weather package, especially to handle the summer heat.”
Emergency and scene lighting on the Espanola’s new ambulance is made up of Whelen 900 series LED lights.
Greg DeForge, sales manager for Wheeled Coach, says the rig that Espanola Fire/Rescue purchased is a Type 1 ambulance built on a Ford F-450 XLT two-door cab and 4×4 chassis with a 153-inch-long patient box that’s 95 inches wide with 67-inches of headroom, and a Liquid Spring rear suspension, has a 6.7-liter diesel engine. DeForge says wheelbase on the new Wheeled Coach is 169 inches, overall length is 24 feet 7 inches, and overall height is 9 feet 4 inches.
Joe Quinn, sales support administrator for Siddons-Martin Emergency Group, who sold the Wheeled Coach Type 1 to Espanola Fire/Rescue, says the rig has the Wheeled Coach severe weather package of insulated foam in the walls, floor, and ceiling of the patient module, which helps keep the box cool in the Southwestern heat, as well as a white roof exterior to reflect sunlight and heat, and a CoolBar 100,000-British thermal unit (btu) 4-fan condenser for additional air conditioning.
Wheelbase on the Espanola rig is 169 inches, overall length is 24 feet 7 inches, and overall height is 9 feet 4 inches.
Quinn points out that seating in the patient module includes a CPR seat in the center of the streetside wall, a high back attendant’s seat with a built-in child’s safety seat at the head of the cot, and two squad bench seating positions. He says that all seats are protected by Per4Max® four-point single buckle harnesses.
“The Type 1 is fitted with a Stryker PowerLOAD floor plate to take a Stryker Power COT,” he notes, “there’s a recessed suction at the action area between the CPR and attendant seats, and all interior cabinets have standard slider doors.” Quinn adds that the Wheeled Coach has a Vanner Lifesine 1,000-watt combination inverter/charger, and Whelen 900 series LED warning lights and scene lights.
Espanola’s new rig has Wheeled Coach severe weather package of insulated foam in the walls, ceiling and floor of the patient box, and a CoolBar 100,000-BTU 4-fan auxiliary air conditioning condenser on the front of the box.
Besides the new Wheeled Coach Type 1 ambulance and the Braun Type 1 in reserve, the department also runs four pumpers, a 107-foot aerial ladder, a 2,000-gallon tender (tanker), two Type 6 wildland/brush truck pumpers, two command vehicles, one fire prevention vehicle, and one special operations trailer holding two utility terrain vehicles (UTVs) and rescue equipment.
Espanola firefighter/EMTs wash down their new rig.
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.
