Ambulance

An ambulance is a vehicle designated for the transport of sick or injured people. The first ambulances called by that name were horse ambulances used in the American Civil War. The first practical ambulances were created by Dominique Jean Larrey, a French surgeon (1766-1842), for use in the Napoleonic Wars. Modern-day ambulances are typically large automobiles on a van or light truck chassis.

Ambulances in North America

Ambulance types

Ambulances in both the United States and Canada are defined by KKK-1822E requirements which defines several categories of ambulances.

Related Topics:
United States - Canada

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• Type I Ambulances are based on the chassis-cabs of light duty pickup-trucks,
• Type II Ambulances are based in modern passenger/cargo vans,
• Type III Ambulances are based on chassis-cabs of light duty vans,
• Extreme Duty versions of both Type I and Type III are also now authorized based on the chassis-cabs of medium duty truck chassis.

Note that Type I's and Type III's are often called boxes by their crews with Type II's being called vanbulances, ambulances are also referred to as buses, modulars, rigs etc.

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Ambulance Providers

Ambulance service providers come in several types in the USA:

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1. Volunteer Ambulance Corps or services - like Volunteer Fire Companies, St. John Ambulance are the most common and may be found everywhere, from NYC to the smallest rural community all around the world. May be community owned or privately owned, usually non-profit.

Related Topics:
St. John Ambulance - NYC

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2. Private Ambulance Service - Normal commercial companies of which the largest is AMR or American Medical Response. Most are usually only patient transfer services without an emergency capability although many are dual capable.

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3. Municipal Third Service (city and some metropolitan counties) - Operate as a third service alongside fire and police departments.

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4. Municipal - Usually fire department owned and operated, or police department owned and operated. Police department owned and operated ambulances are very uncommon, although fire department owned and operated ambulances are common in some areas.

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5. Combined- these are full service emergency service agencies such as airport and college public safety offices. Some smaller towns and cities may also have them. Generally all personnel are crosstrained as EMT's/Firefighter/peace officer.

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Service Level

• Basic Life Support or BLS - usually consist of two EMTs and can only provide limited aid.
• Advanced Life Support or ALS - usually consists of an EMT and an EMT Intermediate, or an EMT and a paramedic and can provide BLS with the addition of IV therapy.
• Mobile Intensive Care Unit - Usually consists of either an EMT and a paramedic or mutlpile paramedics, and provide the full range of advanced services to include IV therapy, Cardiac monitoring and drugs, pain killers. etc.
• Critical Care Units - Usually consist of a combination of EMTs/Paramedics/Nurses/Physicans depending on the need. They provide special transports for premature babies, cardiac transfers etc.

Need for Flexibility

There is a continuous flux in terms of types of services due to constant efforts to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Indeed, many fire departments are fire-oriented only in name and are becoming all-purpose emergency services organizations.

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Ambulances in the United States are usually staffed by at least one EMT driver and one paramedic. Paramedics in the U.S. are professionally trained emergency medical technicians, a healthcare profession distinct from physicians and nurses.

Related Topics:
Driver - Paramedic - Emergency medical technician - Physician - Nurse

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American paramedics called to an emergency will identify and treat anyone needing medical assistance. They stabilize and transport those in need of further medical care to hospitals, calling for additional ambulances as necessary. If the scene is dangerous (because someone is brandishing a gun or a building is on fire) paramedics usually do not enter until police or fire personnel explicitly allow them to do so.

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Large American cities like New York and Los Angeles tend to have many distinct ambulance services representing all of the types mentioned above, so pedestrians and drivers must be alert for ambulances of many shapes, sizes, and colors. However, many smaller cities and suburbs are completely dominated by AMR, and AMR vehicles are synonymous with "ambulance" in those areas.

Related Topics:
New York - Los Angeles

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American ambulances usually are fitted with red (and sometimes white, amber and blue) flashing lights and a siren that continuously rises and falls, as opposed to the two or three-tone sirens heard in other countries. When an ambulance turns on its lights and siren, all other drivers are required by law to pull off to the side of the road and yield the right of way.

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