Dodge Sprinter?

[shfd739]

Wow some of these responses are harsh. The Sprinter is a safe vehicle and better put together than a Ford or Chevy van. Ill have to dig up the pic of one our units that hit the rear of a dump truck and the driver walked away with no injuries. That wouldnt happen in a Ford/Chevy due to the dog house and lack of hood space. In those the motor nearly winds up in the cab. Ours have decently reliable and get about twice the fuel economy as our Ford vans/type 3s and Chevy type 1s.

I like my type 1 but I dont like having to move around to do things. Or getting up to be able to reach supplies. Id love to have a Sprinter with the forward facing seats and a small action area so I can sit next to my patients and still provide care. Give me some mounts to secure my CCT stuff and Ill rock it every day.

I know pretty much all of our medic's do their best to get into a spare Sprinter when their frontline type 1s go down. The Ford vans/type 3s are disliked by all of us.

 

[DesertMedic66]

From what I have seen at least in this area is the total opposite. Most of the medics and EMTs want the fords as their main and if they get stuck with the sprinter then they aren't in the best mood.

 

[johnrsemt]

I took a Sprinter on a 1350 mile road trip transport: averaged 82mph the entire tripe and got 17.9mpg the entire trip. From a company standpoint they are great trucks because they were more than double the gas mileage of the boxes and 60% more than the vans.
Not alot of room in the back, but there is more head room, and the back doors go all the way to the ceiling; so you don't have to duck as you walk out.

 

[Forrest]

We could all just drive around in monsters like these...

 

[WolfmanHarris]

This is just standard EMS response to things. We're such a cantankerous bunch sometimes. Take any change and you can almost divide down the middle the providers who like and those that don't.

Heck a few months back our Chief sent out a memo saying he'd be riding out with the Superintendents, visiting stations and hospitals and touching base with all the crews. (With a service of over 400 medics, 20 stations this is a lot of area to cover) It was amazing how response to this has ranged from medics thinking this was some sort of plot that would ruin the world as we knew it, to those (like myself) who were excited to have the Chief's ear one on one and to have management seeing first hand how's things are going in the field.

I'm sure we can all think of a provider we know who still laments the move from the Ferno 30.

 

[frdude1000]

We could all just drive around in monsters like these...

If anyone was at EMS Today, Spartan had a truck like this on display. I guess they market them as ambulances and rescue squad/extrication units. Although they are big, it prevents the need to send two trucks out...one can perform both functions.

 

[Forrest]

We can do extrication out of all four of our squads, and have to since we do all the extrication for the 5 townships we cover. We have to give up the "cpr" seat on the inside for a big flat wall, but we can fit cribbing, jacks, shears and spreaders, rams, and generators in the side with our jackets and helmets in the roll up doors. Works fine for us.

 

[Hockey]

We could all just drive around in monsters like these...

There's a patient compartment in that? Anyone have photos of inside one like that???

 

[MrBrown]

Here are our two types of Sprinters

The box

Inside the box

The van

Inside the van

 

[FloridaEMT]

I'm bumping an old thread but I'm looking for some more exterior and interior pictures of the Sprinter Ambu's. Recently my company began the "new units" discussion and I put the bug in her ear about the Dodge Sprinter (mainly from this thread).

 

[Too Old To Work]

When Diamler owned Chrysler (and Freightliner) the Sprinter was marketed under both the Dodge and Freightliner names. Diamler sold Chrysler to Cerberus Capital, which gutted the company before letting it lapse into bankruptcy so the government could bail it out. Fiat is the current owner of Chrysler and Dodge does not at this time offer a van of any type. Unless you count minivans.

The same goes for Freightliner.

If you want a Sprinter chassis ambulance, it will be a Mercedes.

The only real criticism I've heard of the Sprinter van is that it's a bit tight back there.

 

[SanDiegoEmt7]

Having worked at a company that used vans and a large assortment of boxes, and now working a company that solely uses sprinters, I have to say I don't mind 'em.

I think the pros and cons have been covered here. Yes it's nice to have more room but when you're working in a busy metropolitan system I think it's actually nicer to have the smaller vehicle that is easier to maneuver through traffic.

Their only space issues arise when you require extra hands to ride with you. They have plenty of power, and the ride is way way better than boxes and vans (as mentioned the dodge sprinters are just mercedes rigs with dodge emblems)

If you carry rescue equipment though, your definitely going to need something bigger.

 

[jjesusfreak01]

I've worked in Sprinters (type 2), sprinter box conversions (type 3), and ford chassis (type 3). I have to say I prefer the full-size ford type 3s.

I don't like the Sprinters solely due to lack of space. I don't have enough space in the cab (can't move my seat back far enough), and I don't think there's enough space in the back. There's no CPR seat, and forbid if you need to get a manual BP on the right arm of a patient. There is less storage than a type 3 sprinter conversion. That said, they run great and are quiet. These are probably perfect for IFT.

Sprinter type 3 conversions are better, but still don't have as much space as a larger type 3. They also ride higher and are loud loud loud.