rear window blinds

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squirrel15

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I was just thinking, why don't places install roll down curtains/blinds for the rear windows? To allow you to keep people from staring in at you and a patient at night with the light on.
Not just to keep the lights out of the back when you're trying to rest your eyes. :D
 
This is why electronic privacy tints exist. I never saw it on an ambulance until I moved to Delaware, but it is awesome and should be standard equipment on ambulances as far as I'm concerned.

Many ambulances here have a switch/button that applies a current to the rear windows of the module and instantly toggles them between normal clear glass and 100% opaque/frosted glass. The default mode is opaque, so if the system fails it maintains patient privacy in the rear until it is fixed.

I used to absolutely hate having the lights on with an exposed (or really any!) patient in the back of the ambulance, particularly at night when it's like a fishbowl for the public and other motorists.
 
That's an interesting option, I've never seen or head of that before but its a great idea and would look a lot more professional than my idea. Although sometimes from the captains chair having a staring contest with someone behind you can be fun at night
 
...and then there's the fact that some people actually do use the rear view mirror when driving.

I also used a seat belt in the back back when I actually worked on an ambulance.
 
Lucky
JPINFV said:
...and then there's the fact that some people actually do use the rear view mirror when driving.

I also used a seat belt in the back back when I actually worked on an ambulance.
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Lucky, I wish you could see out the rear window in our rigs with the rearview. Ours have those foot and half by foot and half windows if even that big, where half of that is covered by the captains chair, and the other have is close to a direct view to the bench seat and maybe if your lucky a small portion of the actual rear window is visible.

I don't understand where the seat belt comment came from though...? I wear my seat belt in the back as does my nurse and partner whenever possible.
 
The windows on the box for our rigs are mirrored. We can look out, and unless your putting your nose up to the glass all you'll see is yourself if you try to look in.
 
Our trucks all have curtains that we usually keep pulled down over the windows.
 
Never had this problem in FL, all of our windows are tinted. :)

Curtains would seem to be unsanitary unless they are cleaned daily and even then it would be questionable on a daily use truck. Everything should be immediately wipeable and non-porous.
 
akflightmedic said:
Never had this problem in FL, all of our windows are tinted. :)

Curtains would seem to be unsanitary unless they are cleaned daily and even then it would be questionable on a daily use truck. Everything should be immediately wipeable and non-porous.
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I couldn't think of a better word than curtains lol. Not necessarily typical household curtains :)
 
akflightmedic said:
Never had this problem in FL, all of our windows are tinted. :)

Curtains would seem to be unsanitary unless they are cleaned daily and even then it would be questionable on a daily use truck. Everything should be immediately wipeable and non-porous.
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They're not frilly fabric curtains. More like horizontal accordion pull-down shades that can be removed and wiped down (since they're only held in by velcro). They're made of woven nylon or something.
 
squirrel15 said:
I wasn't refuting your point, I was just confused what that had to do with preventing people seeing in the back.
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I consider the "Can't see out the back window" concept as being in the same box as, "seat belts limit my ability to care for the patient."
 
JPINFV said:
I consider the "Can't see out the back window" concept as being in the same box as, "seat belts limit my ability to care for the patient."
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I am curious as to how they are in the same box. Maybe I am missing something, but I don't see them in the same light. Not having a seat belt on puts your life at risk from unforseen circumstances such as dips, bumps, holes in the road that your driver doesn't see and loses control, as well as your partner or any other moron that drives horribly on the road, broad statement but the details aren't the question here. Where as seeing out the rear window is minimal as it is, and we rely on our side mirrors for any view behind us, and most dangers to anyone would be in front of or to the side of us. Hell in california, legally you don't need a review mirror as long as you have both side mirrors

What is it about losing the small amount of space to see out the rear window while driving that you see as posing a danger to the crew or those around them? Just hoping to hear another opinion and learn :)
 
I have never, honestly, had much of a problem seeing out the rear window while driving, and I prefer knowing what's going on on all sides of my vehicle, including what's behind me. A car coming up fast behind me can easily suddenly be beside me. Do I have family following me requiring me to adjust how they drive (including when driving non-emergently)? Do I have someone else tailgating me? Removing a rear window means creating a huge blind spot, and there's a reason that shipping trucks puts huge signs on their trailers warning other drivers about those blind spots.

Why are they in the same box? Because I reject the notion that, like what some people say about seatbelts, the rear window is useless and unable to be used.

Oh, and as a manner as an appeal to authority, I've been driving for over 15 years and have never been in an accident.
 
Fair enough answer, you make a good point about family following, but I would hope and expect family to be at a safe following distance behind me such that I would be capable of seeing them in the side mirrors. Same for people coming up behind me, I would hope to catch sight of them in my side mirrors before they are directly behind me.

As for tailgater's, a rearview mirror is truly the only way you will see them and unfortunately there is not to much we can do about it. In my experience though, with the view I have out of my mirrow I can barely see anyways, maybe I have the mirror adjusted improperly and next time I work, I'll play around with it, and see if there is a better position for it.
 
Rear view cameras can also provide a view of the back even in type I ambulances with small pass throughs. Most ambulances I have driven (and our suburbans/squads at my job now) have unusable rear view mirrors with zero visibility. We get along just fine. If a usable rear view mirror is available, awesome. I don't blame you for using it. If it's not I don't see it as a huge deal.

And yes, I wear my seat belt when possible in the back of ambulances.
 
JPINFV said:
I have never, honestly, had much of a problem seeing out the rear window while driving, and I prefer knowing what's going on on all sides of my vehicle, including what's behind me. A car coming up fast behind me can easily suddenly be beside me. Do I have family following me requiring me to adjust how they drive (including when driving non-emergently)? Do I have someone else tailgating me? Removing a rear window means creating a huge blind spot, and there's a reason that shipping trucks puts huge signs on their trailers warning other drivers about those blind spots.

Why are they in the same box? Because I reject the notion that, like what some people say about seatbelts, the rear window is useless and unable to be used.

Oh, and as a manner as an appeal to authority, I've been driving for over 15 years and have never been in an accident.
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I literally could not look out the back windows while driving in our units if my life depended on it. They're type 1's with only a small and low-set "drive thru" window, giving me a view of nothing but the monitor hanging on the back of the stretcher and maybe my partner's legs if he is sitting on the bench.
 
There is a topic at hand. Maybe discuss that?

Our windows have graphics over them work well enough as tint, it's pretty much impossible to see through them from the outside day or night.
 
Underoath87 said:
They're not frilly fabric curtains. More like horizontal accordion pull-down shades that can be removed and wiped down (since they're only held in by velcro). They're made of woven nylon or something.
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Is it Velcro around the entire window? Or only at the top and the rest hangs down freely?
 
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