Ambulances - Best and Worst

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dlkelleytn

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Just curious: Who made the best ambulance you have ever worked out of and why is it the best? On the other hand, who made the worst rig and what made it bad?

My best was Road Rescue. Units were solid and quiet although I believe the new Life Line units have them beat on both accounts but I haven't had a chance to work out of one yet.

Worst was by a company called REV out of Tennessee. Unit leaked and rear doors didn't close tight. Whenever we ran a call on a gravel road we would have to put the unit out of service, completely take everything out of the unit, and clean the dust out of it. Wonder why they are no longer in business? lol
 
We have an '03 Road Rescue that I think has more miles going back and forth to the shop than from calls. We have had problems with the multiplex electrical system. They tout the benefits of no fuses or relays but its no fun when you have a patient on board and you can't even turn on the O2 because the on board computer burned up.

I have heard a lot of good things about Lifeline and Excellance.
 
Our private ambulance company uses Marque Ambulances for the entire fleet.

BLS Use the Type II Squad II

ALS Use the larger "Mods".

I have no real complaints.
 
The best for me was the 1991 extended box and chassis Horton I transported a 750lbs woman and drove 25 more miles without an alternator.

the worst is the 2003 Marque Brigadier. It was used as a critical care team bus but had no pick-up, was always out mechanical or electrical, and had issues when you least wanted them.

I once broke down with a V.A.D. Patient. Lost all engine power. Thank goodness for the 7.5kw generator on the truck. If not for that, we would have been f*cked with the lawsuits.
 
We exclusively use Marque for our fleet. Our oldest ambulances, a from 2001 arent in the best of shape. In fact, they're almost never used.

I think if everyone had the money they would be going with Hortons. I'm not sure they make sense in private EMS though.
 
Both of our rigs are from Leader Emergency Vehicles. They're just down the road from us, and have built most of the Type II ambulances in the area (for AMR and most of the other private companies). In fact, our old RA41 (which is now RA241) is one of the examples on their website. They're also the local Horton dealer.

I think most of the Type IIIs in the area are either Hortons or Road Rescues.
 
My FD has a Horton/Ford E350. It's nice, but a little bit small, and considering our long transport time (30 minutes) it's sometimes a tight fit when we're working a full code.

The Ambulance Corps uses PLs. I LOVE the PLs, they're roomy, have limited problems (considering we usually have at least 10 calls in a 24 hour period), and the storage compartments are laid out in a way that makes sense.
 
Originally posted by rescuecpt@Nov 22 2004, 06:14 AM
My FD has a Horton/Ford E350. It's nice, but a little bit small, and considering our long transport time (30 minutes) it's sometimes a tight fit when we're working a full code.

The Ambulance Corps uses PLs. I LOVE the PLs, they're roomy, have limited problems (considering we usually have at least 10 calls in a 24 hour period), and the storage compartments are laid out in a way that makes sense.
Click to expand...
gimme a HORTON. HORTON, HORTON, HORTON.

Well, if it's new, I'll take a Wheeled Roach, or even an AEV - AEV does make nice, no frills minimods, and they beat the heck out of a type 2 - more room in back, inside and outside.

Jon
 
Best-Horton-heavy duty-last for a long time-very few electrical problems-box and truck are on seperate electrical systems, local ford garage can fix the problems, sold more commonly, easy to find a horton dealer, cares about customer service, company HQ will check up on problems, cabinets are steel/aluminum framed, and facades are bolted on, lots of compartment space.

Worst-Marque-Cheap construction-parts fall off-plywood used in too many places-compartments poorly planned-do not build to buyer specs (leave out details) such as the one we spec'd out, was delivered about 16" short of spec. 16 inches is alot when it comes to compartments and inside cabinets-entire ambulance runs on a computer, both the box and the truck when one goes it all goes, cannot be fixed by a ford garage, has to go back to dealership, dealerships are hundreds of miles apart, not easy to get a question answered, require many calls to get someone to call you back, compartment facades are stuck on w/ carpenters tape.

Both units were spec'd the same, Horton always was able to fill the order to spec, any problems we had a face to face meeting, planned by them, delivered by a company sales man who answered any questions in his introduction to the unit. brought refreshments w/ them in their suv, including cases of mugs, shirts, hats, jackets, pens, calendars... left a hand written note w/ his home phone number in case we had any problems "anywhere, anytime". Sat down and talked w/ the crew for three hours about anything from the ambulance to "old times", was friendly, vists often to see if we had any problems, sends us a christmas card.

Marque made changes w/ out any notice, didn't call till it was ready, couldn't get any info b/c nobody returned calls, sent a RV sales man to deliver it, didn't know anything about ambulances period. Gave us the keys, waited silently in his car while the sales guy had us sign a check, left w/ out any words being said. Left a business card w/ an email address for the company HQ. Was offered coffee, and snacks; said "No way". Got out as quick as possible. Never heard from them again, until they wanted it for a trade show. Wouldn't even give us anything in exchange, like fill up the fuel tank...

Horton used an ambulance for a trade show once, delivered a brand new replacement, helped us move the equipment, bought lunch, stayed and admired our antique truck, helped me put the hose on it...

Horton becomes like a member of the family when you buy from them...

Marque is like the red-headed step child...
 
I LOVE Hortons. They are great trucks, still good 10 years later without problems.

As I said, a New Wheeled Coach or AEV is ok for transport, but I can't see EVER specing out anytihng other than a Horton. With Privacy Glass windows. Keyless entry keypad. More Strobes and LEDs than any 3 other ambulances. do I need to continue????


Jon
 
We just got two new PL's... we've had three "sets of twins" in the past 5 years or so... we are included as the center picture on the PL ad that is currently running in Fire News, and we were named "PL Ambulance of the Month" and received embroidered ball caps (woohoo!). I love the new rigs, they're huge, with the ALS/CPR seat on one side and crew bench on the other. They've got a lot of other great features too that just make so much sense!
 
That's something I forgot to add... We've had hortons since the 70's, only bought the Marque b/c our salesman switched companies and offered us "the deal of a lifetime. We would normally pay from 120,000 to 140,000 for a Horton. Supposedly The unit we bought from Marque was cheap, for 129,000.00 I personally think we were charged for an longer Type III, that was showed to us as a Demo. Somewhere we got ripped. Supposed to have this huge compartment for our all of our aux stretchers, and a large bench seat storage thing for our mass casualty kits.

It didn't have these. In fact the whole storage area under the bench seat is fuses and the AC. The panel where the fuses should be is obstructed by the captain seat, and 10" smaller than it should have been. Our EPI Kit, and ALS Boxes would have gone in there. We barely had room on our Marque Type 1, for what the state required... The horton could hold three times the state requirement, and more.

COUGH-RIPOFF-COUGH.
 
Maybe there was a reason your salesman was not longer working for Horton? :ph34r:
 
We exclusively use Marque, and I don't think I can really comment on them, only because I really don't work enough to know the ins and outs and their performance limitations.

I was reading another forum and it was amazing to read about all the problems people had with ambulances, including Hortons. Some people swear by ambulance X, others refuse to step foot inside one.

I guess only time will tell how they hold up, our oldest unit is from 2001, and its only used as a backup.
 
Originally posted by ffemt8978@Feb 15 2005, 03:11 AM
Maybe there was a reason your salesman was not longer working for Horton? :ph34r:
Click to expand...
The company he worked for was no longer selling ambulances, they were selling Hearses, RV's, and transport vans.
 
Worst one is my current one, AEV. The company bought it used and referbished :huh: The doors don't close tight and the engine decideds it wants to die out on you while waiting at traffic lights.

Best one so far has been Leader. Could run it all day and night and not have one problem with it.
 
Originally posted by TTLWHKR+Feb 16 2005, 02:41 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (TTLWHKR @ Feb 16 2005, 02:41 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-ffemt8978@Feb 15 2005, 03:11 AM
Maybe there was a reason your salesman was not longer working for Horton?  :ph34r:
Click to expand...
The company he worked for was no longer selling ambulances, they were selling Hearses, RV's, and transport vans. [/b][/quote]
 
No love for "Wheeled Roach." As far as I'm concerned, they're cheap.

Med-techs. Now those stand the test of time.
Road Rescue is not so bad either.
 
I would like to get some feedback from agencies who have experience with Marque Ambulances - good, bad, or otherwise.

We are considering adding them to our product line but would like to hear some comments from the field.

Feel free to email me privately if you don't want your comments posted.

Thanks!!!
 
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