Road Rescue Ultramedic built on a Navistar 4300 Chassis |
While I spend most of my time exploring new and innovative designs in fire apparatus, every once in a while I come across something in the EMS world that catches my eyes.
A friend of mine told me about an innovative fire department in Ohio that just put into service a Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) equipped ambulance.
He gave me the department chief's name and telephone number, so I made contact with Chief Kenn Taylor from the Violet Township Fire Department, located in Pickerington, Ohio. Chief Taylor impressed me as a very proactive fire chief and an innovator.
I asked why they ordered the firefighting ambulance, which was built by Road Rescue Equipment, a major manufacturer of ambulances and rescue vehicles. The chief explained that their response area was growing a great deal, particularly the northwest corner of the district that adjoins the City of Columbus. This area contains a lot of nursing homes, a Wal-Mart, hotels, restaurants, numerous strip shopping centers and new housing subdivisions.
"Because of this level of growth, we wanted to decrease the response time in this area, primarily because of the increase in the number of EMS calls," he explained.
"Because of financial considerations, we didn’t have the funds to purchase another engine at this time for this area.
"But we had a good relationship with a local developer, who built us a station in one of the strip malls where we could house the vehicle."
Good incentive
The chief went on to tell me that they researched other departments around the country that had a similar idea of putting a pump and tank on an ambulance, including one in Seminole County, Florida.
The Tr-Max 30 CAFS System |
"Another good idea for this concept was for our firefighter/paramedics to have an incentive to work at this station — they could combine firefighting with EMS work," added the chief.
The unit is manned by two FF/paramedics and responds on all structural fires, as well as vehicle fires and MVAs in this area. It is used basically to make an initial hit on a fire until the first due engine arrives. By no means was the department trying to replace its engine companies or overtax the unit by having it attack a major fire, the chief said.
It has proven its worth so far, knocking down several room and contents fires, and having the first line on a four-family apartment fire and several vehicle fires.
The chief told me: "Our guys have trained extensively on this unit and are overly impressed with the operation. We have four EMS units now in our department. Three might possibly be replaced in the future with more units like this one."
These units seem like a great idea, offering significant cost savings. It seems to work well for the Violet Township FD, which looked outside of the box to develop this firefighting system for their response area.
Sometimes a little planning goes a long way.
Unit specifications
- Road Rescue built the vehicle on a Navistar 4300 Chassis with a 170" wheelbase. It has an extended cab
- DT466E 250hp diesel engine
- 270 amp Leece Neville Alternator
- MD3060 five-speed transmission
- 12,000lb Navistar air ride rear
- 8,000lb front and 17,000lb rear axle
- 20,000 GVW Bendix AD-9 air dryer
- Engine block heater
- Additional air compressor
- Three OEM batteries
