Old Ambulance Photos

TTLWHKR

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I just happen to be an author and historian. I got into EMS when I heard my grandfather tell stories about driving a hearse as an ambulance to mine and automobile accidents in the 1950's & 1960's before the fire company picked up ambulance service in 1967. I have collected hundreds to THOUSANDS of pictures of ambulances; car chassis ambulances. 1920's - 1970's. The only thing I don't have is pictures of the insides. I'm looking for a standard list of equipment that ambulances carried before there were DOT Standards. I even have first aid and ambulance attendant text books from Pennsylvania pre-1969. I'm also looking for pictures or stories of ambulance services from the most unpopulated parts of the country, including Alaska; Nevada; all the desert areas. And pictures of the insides of the ambulances and their equipment... Or locations in the country where car chassis ambulances are still in service. The law was that, you may not put a car chassis ambulance into service after 1980 something; but if you already had one it was grandfathered in.

I can post a few picture I have; I'll try that later.
 

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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Blueeighty8,

Great pictures, thanks for sharing!

Are any more of this pictures online? It's always interesting to see how far EMS has progressed in recent years.
 
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TTLWHKR

TTLWHKR

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Ambulance Links

Three of Three.

1971 Cadillac S&S (Now Hess & Eisenhardt) Medic Mark 1 Ambulance

1992 Cadillac S&S Eureka; Last Combination hearse/ambulance made

Now of course every caddy lover has to have a book mark to this page. The Bay Shore Ambulance service in Foster City, CA runs two Cadillac Criterion ambulances as active duty ambulances... That is my life time dream, to run a call in a Cadillac Ambulance... Someday I will have one.

BayShore Ambulance Svc.

Bayshore

Bayshore w/ Patients


Profile View, Bayshore Ambulance


Bayshore Ambulance Rear View
 

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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Great pictures!

Now of course every caddy lover has to have a book mark to this page. The Bay Shore Ambulance service in Foster City, CA runs two Cadillac Criterion ambulances as active duty ambulances... That is my life time dream, to run a call in a Cadillac Ambulance... Someday I will have one.

I spent a while looking at that page and was amazed. Do you really think people would be comfortable riding in an old-style Cadillac Ambulance?

I'm relatively new to EMS, but I hear lots of stories from old-timers. The days when having blood all over your uniform meant you actually did something at work. Gloves? Who wore gloves? The last thing I would expect to hear is that they enjoyed riding in the back of those old ambulances. They look so cramped, and I think the patient would have the same closed-in feeling.

Any input?

Again, thanks for sharing!
 
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TTLWHKR

TTLWHKR

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Cadillacs rode like you were on a cloud, they "never hit a bump". :D

Really until the mid 1970's you would have heard horrorific stories from Ambulance attendants. They didn't have access to equipment and training until Pre-hospital medicine evolved after the Vietnam Conflict. You can thank the Medics and Corpsmen in WWII, Korea and Vietnam for modern prehospital care. They invented, or gave ideas for nearly everything we have now. Including Paramedics; and advanced life support.

I've heard stories from attendants, and my grandfather; relating to first aid care in our rural area. What EMT's and Paramedics who are new to EMS must learn is that there is a difference between Urban and Rural EMS; even today with so many advances. Not just distances between patients and difinitive care facilities, but between services and patients. It is not always possible to pay services to cover these areas. Some services only have 10 calls a year; some have thousands. Either way, it's better now that it was in the days of the caddy.

I slept for about three hours, and now I can't get back to sleep; so I guess I have time to share some of what I've heard over the years...

My grandfather told me of when he worked for a creamery in town; at the time he lived in a house next to one of the two funeral parlors in town. There were two ambulances; one just a hearse with trasnport capabilities. The other a hearse with a first aid kit. The one near my grandfather had people from the community as traffic directors, funeral drivers, stand in's, etc. My grandfather drove the hearse on emergency ambulance runs. He said it had to be a multi-funcitional vehicle. It was used as an ambulance, but it was still a hearse. The first aid cabinet fit into the front against the seat; and between two attendant seats. The oxygen resuscitator sat on the floor in front of that; and the cot mounts were permanent.

The carried one Resuscitator w/ Mask and two copper oxygen tanks (This belonged to the fire company, who used it for drownings and smoke inhalation). The ambulance used it as a oxygen tent, assisting doctors all over a three-county radius. The first aid kit was simple; basic bandaging supplies; about 100 cravats (Triangular Bandages); wooden splints; a Thomas Splint; a Spine Board; a cot; and three military stretchers. You could fit five people laying down in the ambulance. One on the cot, two on the floor side by side; and two on the ceiling. Now this was the Load & Go days; so you didn't have to keep track of vitals; etc. Just getting them to a hospital was enough. Often the funeral homes would rely on each other to get multiple patients to the hospital. A doctor could ride w/ the more serious patients providing pain relief or fluids. IV's were often a luxuary too; but after the national standards for EMT's came around in the early 1970's; the local EMT's were trained to provide IV's. Paramedics were not available until 1992. The funeral homes gave up service in 1967 and the Fire Co. took over. They were able to provide IV's on the Basic EMT level until 1995; when ALS became more readily available.

In the 1950's the hearse was black w/ two red lights on the front near the hood. Sort of like elevated turn signals that flashed at the same time. In the 1960's the hearse was white and had a single red "bubble" light on the roof, and a federal siren mounted under the hood and behind the grille.

I've been told that at one point they hauled upto nine patients in one cadillac ambulance b/c in the mid 60's only one ambulance service operated after a closure. This was the only ambulance available to about 15,000 residents in three rural and wilderness counties.

Like I said, the caddy rode like a dream. I've rode in a cadillac hearse before-to get the feel. It was exactly like an ambulance. Had a cot for removal; and seats; ceiling hooks. But no first aid cabinets. It was perfect, not too cramped; and it was explained to me by the funeral director how they would fit nine patients in it, if that was legal. You'd be suprised. I can't put into words what its like; but I tried my best. Maybe a bit cramped; but you worked with what you had. And they made it work, I thought it was just enough room to be comfortable. Maybe in some low-tops it would be a bit uncomfortable; but the high tops were just a bit more short than the current Econolines. Not enough room to stand up, but it must have worked b/c people are so fond of them.

The bay shore people use the caddy's for LDT's Long Distance Transports or Red Blanket Transports. This is b/c the caddy offers a supreme ride in comfort on long trips. Plus it makes people feel a bit more comfortable...
I was once told that you should ask a patient if they are comfortable twice. Once when you load; and once before you arrive. Because that in itself is a necessary measure to prehospital care. Comfort. :)
 

Luno

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Okay, I don't think anything gives me the willies like an old cadillac ambulance, I looked through these just to scare myself interesting HX though.
 

burntbob

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Hello All
There's more to to the world of old ambulances than cadillacs! I have a 1965 International Harvester Travelall ambulance that I use for parades and other fun stuff for our professional association. These were the workhorses for many a fleet and small town service, they were tough, fast and you could get them in 4x4 for off road, and your tractor dealership would carry the parts to fix them.

You can see pictures at my website
http://oldambulance.cornbinder.com

Thanks

Bob
 
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TTLWHKR

TTLWHKR

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Oh there is much more than Cadillacs!

Pontiacs, Internationals, Packards, Buicks, Lincolns...

Our service has owned a variety of profession specific vehicles and combinations!
Started with a Cadillac and a Packard in the 1940's; moved on to Lincolns; Then cadillacs; International Travel-All's (also called the Harvester); then onto Dodge Conversion Vans; Then fords.

We always say, what does it say for the ambulance industry, we started out driving cadillacs and now we drive fords...

:p
 

coloradoemt

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Cool pictures!! I have to agree that the caddy's would not be comfy to work in. Cant say anything different about the IH, I used to have a scout. But that things gotta be fun to drive!!
 

procarsteve

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About those Dobbs Ferry rigs...

Great shots; thanks for posting them!

The first one is a 1946-48 Meteor/Cadillac.

The second one is a 1964 Miller-Meteor/Cadillac "Volunteer" w/48" headroom.

The last one is a 1973 M-M/Cadillac "Lifeliner" w/54" headroom.
 

MedicTroll

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Love the Caddy buses

When I first started working in EMS the company I was with still ran a Caddy and a Pontiac, Everyone wanted to be in the new Mods so New guys got the Caddy or Pontiac. I loved it was a blast to ride, a little tight to work in but was the greatest. I hated to see them go and only wish I had the money at the time to buy them, I have been looking to find one and restore it at least for parades.
 
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TTLWHKR

TTLWHKR

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Before my crash, I owned six old commercial chassis rigs myself. In all, we had nine since I began the collection. I sold them all either to collectors or on ebay after I was hit head-on by a tire delivery truck while driving to work. That allowed me to pay some medical bills, we sued for the rest.. :p Plus I got a new SUV, and paid off the house. Small price to pay, for having to be cut out of my 2005 Ford Deathtrap.

While I no longer own any ambulances, I do have a garage full of equipment.. Stretchers, gurneys, resuscitators, boxes, etc.. My father on the other hand, he owns 11 old vehicles, related to his field. Our family ran a funeral home, and along with it an ambulance service. They operated till the early 80's, and he still have the last vehicle that was in service. Quite an amazing collection of Cadillacs, Packards and Travel-All Ambulances. He still has a 77 Cadillac Hearse in service, as he is a full time funeral director. His interest in the ambulances comes from having been either an attendant since 1952, or a Paramedic since the early 70's. I'm sure if he could launch them into service, they would run as good as new....
 

burntbob

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WEbsite pictures at oldambulance@cornbinder.com

Sorry folks my website provider went down and posted a " temporary problem" notice but never came back on line again.
Can't complain too much as it was a free site but I haven't had the time to start up a new one.
We moved to a new fleet centre/headquarters in December and it's been busy getting everything back together,

the website for my service is at http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/ambulances/index_en.shtml

and for our local association at
http://www.ottawaparamedics.ca/

lots of good pictures on the second site.

Bob Davidson
 

maksim

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hello all!
Let me too...

SM_GAZ-12B-opti.jpg

It is borrowed from a site ambulances.ru
 
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Sineath02

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Yeah I heard the ghostbusters had a part time EMS service on the side..<_<
 
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