ambulance as field com

[jmr3865]

Ok,
Within our small little town, we are having difficulty of FD knowing what ems is doing of which pd is doing. To fix this problem, I am thinking to lock the head of each agency in 1 place. We are going to be replacing an ambulance soon. I am thinking about making that ambulance a field comm.

Here's the deal. The ambulance is a 1987 GASOLINE type 3 engine. You can sit at the head of the cot and read the back doors. It will be a huge renovation. We will be installing radios up the ying yang.

I will have 4 or 5 vhf radios, 1 uhf radio. as well as extra portables w/ acc.

I am not sure if the vehicle will take the electric of it all. Supposedly, it's also illegal to have this vehicle idling at a scene since it's gas as an ambulance. I am not sure as a field com.

The vehicles has heat and a/c. It could also serve as a 4th amb in an extreme emergency.

I am looking for Pro's and con's for this. What do you think? I would also like pictures of set ups. The big thing is to have our borough council agree.

thanks

JMR

[RadShop]

First off, it's not illegal to let it idle on scene. You just want to make sure you're able to vent the fumes away from the box on the back, away from rehab areas, etc.

Perhaps a generator in one of the compartments would work. If you went that route, you could put a couple extendable light masts, portable lighting, and other goodies in the compartments on the outside and use it as a true "command post" for public information officers, etc. Get yourself a heavy duty 12v power supply and run it off the generator. If you only need to have one or two radios on at times, have the ability to chose a power source for each radio. Generator or truck's batteries. A simple switch and DPDT relay will allow you to do that.

If this is something that's going to be used on scenes for an extended duration perhaps consider a portable antenna mast or extendable mast like the ones that are available via Navy Surplus. They're 30 feet tall, plus however high they were mounted off the ground. Really good way to keep communications rock solid, especially if that's the special role of this vehicle.

If you have the ability, maybe a laptop with rib and programming cables would be a good investment to have in there also. If you're going somewhere with it and don't have the frequencies, or need to update programming on the fly, you can now do that.

If you have the ability, how about some rehab supplies to go with it? A couple boxes of hot cocoa, bottled water, and a water heater don't take up much space... And we really appreciate it when that stuff is right there. ...

[jmr3865]

thanks for the help. There are 2 main principles of this vehicle. #1, for everybody to work together and be on the same page. #2, as radio comm. They go hand in hand. I appreciate the help. I like the lighting and generator inside idea. Rehab supplies is a definat although I do not want to do rehab IN this vehicle. This is also a small vehicle. It's the moderate ambulance back in 1987!

[jim]

Get yourself a Leece NeVille 320A alternator and engine idler. You can power a small town with this setup. Get a good rooftop ventilator system that moves air in AND out. Since it is a gasoline powerplant, go to http://www.jegs.com and get a few rolls of header wrap and stainless steel tying wire. Wrap the exhaust system from the manifolds all the way back. You'll need a large section of heat wrap for the muffler. This will keep undercarriage temps to a minimum, allowing the interior to stay cool and also keep the fuel system happy. Install hood vents and if it fits, a front-mount electric slave cooling fan. Gasoline is an entirely different world than Diesel. A gasoline engine at hi idle will produce exhaust temps near 1400 degrees whereas a Diesel will be maybe 300-400 max.

12 volt power supplies running from AC and using seperate generators are a total waste of time when you have an engine running under the hood. Use an Auragen or a Harrison 120VAC 5KW engine-driven generator for your AC needs. Yes- it will fit in a van. You have an engine running at hi idle anyway, so why not use it for more? If you are running command, you'll have the truck running for HVAC.

If there is room, add a keyswitch controlled solenoid-switched (not a cheesy diode-based isolator) battery bank with 2-4 automotive batteries, such as the yellow Optima. No deep cycles- you aren't running a trolling motor. This will allow reserve capacity if you operate with the truck off or during hi peak loads such as an inverter or other equipment.

Follow the "KISS" principal, yet make it reliable enough to sustain a command post for days with only feeding it liquid fuel. And for heaven's sake, INSTALL A GOOD CO ALARM!!!!

[thebigphish]

Ok, well..if you are going to install all this radio equipment, and use it as 'radio comm' (i guess), you need to consider that the people that will work within this unit will require some other considerations...

It's not just as simple as finding places to mount all these radios and then just doing it, we have already had the consideration of selectable power sources being brought up, and that is just one of the first things. You need to consider a lot more, considering the role that you are going to try to attempt to fill. You said "radio comm" not being sure exactly what that means, i will go on to assume that you will use this as a command post for multiple agencies when on an incident across jurisdictions.

• 1) What agencies will be using this vehicle, and how will they be communicated with during said operations?

• 2) How many people will be working in the back of this?

• 3) You can't expect people to just jump in the back and sit down and drag a mic wire off the wall to a handset, where will they work from?

• 4) will the vehicle have enough rooftop space to adequately separate 4 different antennas (especially important if more than one is in the same band)

• 5) Will there need to be a collaborative effort area (like a whiteboard, or a command board or something similar?)?

• 6) redundancy and interconnection of the equipment in the back? Can't just run all this stuff off the stock alternator in a 19 y/o gasser...will you have a utility interconnect for extended area stays or external feeds?

• 7) Will the standard climate control equipment in that dino actually be able to cope with more than 2 people and more than the standard radios in the back of it for a while? Will it be able to deal with the full range of temperatures?

• 8} Where will the radios be mounted?

• 9) Will they be designed so that they are 'remoted' and still configurable? (Such as a mixer panel or an interconnect so that you can have 'seat 1' use radio 3 and then switch over to 'seat 2' using radio 3...or will they have to just be within arm's length of the only mic?

• 10) How much are you gonna spend?

• 11) IF you install all this equipment, and then design it to be able to function as a command post, do you really think that you will be able to use it as an emergency transport unit?

• 12) How often will this be used?

• 13) if you put something like an aerial on the top of it (even a collapsible) how is it gonna fit under the awning of most modern EDs?
  
  we can keep going if you want...but you are trying to put two rather complex systems together on an antiquated chassis and keep them separate...good luck.