Suggested livery/graphics/paintjob for an ambulance [plus off topic question]

[metro9]

Just asking around for suggestions. It's for a private ambulance. Current popular service uses a variation of the battenburg pattern from the UK.

Another local unit (for sale) uses a more simple pattern:

Both units were acquired used from the U.S.

What would be a good/practical/realistic/cost effective paint job or graphics for an ambulance? Thank you!

OT: What does this pedal do? It's a 1997 Horton Type II (Ford base vehicle).

 

[JPINFV]

Push it and find out!

Actually, it probably goes to work a horn or siren option.

 

[NYBLS]

Manual siren pedal. More common in fire trucks for running the Q, but some ambulances do have them. If its not connected to the siren, its useless.

 

[JJR512]

Manual siren pedal. More common in fire trucks for running the Q, but some ambulances do have them. If its not connected to the siren, its useless.

Or horn, as JPINFV said. The ambulances in my service, for example, have electronic sirens and real air horns; the air horns are worked by this kind of pedal as well. If you were to have both real air horns and a mechanical siren, you might find two of these pedals in the footwell.

 

[metro9]

Yep, we got an airhorn on top of this unit.

Thanks. Now, for the graphics part. hehe

 

[mycrofft]

Call Me Amish..

I work on these principles:
1. A solid color shows up better than a broken one. Broken patterns are used as camouflage. Fluorescent paints fade quickly.
2. Money spent on decals and fancy paint could be spent on repairs, patient care devices, pay, or even another rig. Same for keeping it all up.
3. Company logo, name, phone number, period.
4. Remember, "the side with the simplest uniform usually wins".

Good luck.

 

[volmedic85]

I think if you search the web for ambulance pics, you'll be able to see what works and what doesn't. I find you can have too much, making you look tacky, and too little that you look cheap. As long as you get the message out, your on the right track. Just dont slap a tiny star of life and an ECG strip on it and wash your hand from it, pic a colour combo and stick with it. Nothing is worse than having 6 units and not one look like the next.

 

[JJR512]

I work on these principles:
1. A solid color shows up better than a broken one. Broken patterns are used as camouflage. Fluorescent paints fade quickly.

I disagree about solid colors showing up better. There's a reason why patterns like the battenburg markings or chevrons are called "high visibility".

Camouflage works because the colors used are colors that blend into the background. They break up the shape or silhouette when at least one of the colors blends in to the background, thus the outline of the person or vehicle becomes difficult to discern, and the overall effect is that it's hard to tell there's something there at all. But if you were to paint something, or clothe someone, in a camouflage-style pattern using fluorescent and bright colors that stand out from the background, you better believe that object or person would be highly conspicuous.

The chief of my department recently responded in his department-issued chief's car on a rescue call. He responded from somewhere other than the station, but nearby. He told us later that as he turned onto a main road, he immediately noticed one of our ambulances down the road in front of him. He also said he did not immediately notice the other of our ambulances that was also in front of him, but closer. The one he noticed has high-visibility chevrons on the back; the one he didn't notice doesn't. And he said it was those hi-viz chevrons that grabbed his attention.

Fluroescent paint may fade quickly but it doesn't even need to be used in the first place. In whatever pattern is used, whether chevrons, battenburg, or even simple striping, one color should actually be retroreflective decaling rather than paint, and the other color should be a contrasting bright color.

 

[bigbaldguy]

Just leave it parked in a rough part of town for 24 hours and see what graphics "turn up". Hey at least it's free right?

 

[Hunter]

Here's some of the paint jobs of the bigger private companys in the area.

simple, one line and the logo.

Same thing, simple line, and company logo.

 

[Handsome Robb]

Local trucks. The new Chevys are way nicer than the Fords, can't find a picture of the Chevy, I'll snap one next time I'm at work. Still the same paint job though.

Also, my buddy had a 97 F150. That button turned the high-beam headlights on/off.

 

[ArcticKat]

I've also seen this in Yellow and Purple

 

[lawndartcatcher]

Two of my favorites...

and

 

[bigbaldguy]

Two of my favorites...

and

Nice

 

[mycrofft]

JR512, roger the reflective material.

The reason a standardized pattern works is that nothing else resembles it. The drawback is that it breaks up the image when not looked at directly, or when seen in adverse light or distance.The drawback to one solid color is that some bakery or moving company might adopt it next week.
In late Seventies fire companies (and USAF/DoD) were painting their red trucks "lime yellow". Frankly, at night they were much more visible, especially in mercury vapor light, but people wanted their trucks RED, so back we are.

 

[JPINFV]

In late Seventies fire companies (and USAF/DoD) were painting their red trucks "lime yellow". Frankly, at night they were much more visible, especially in mercury vapor light, but people wanted their trucks RED, so back we are.

One of the FDs in the county I grew up in had the lime green apparatuses, and one of the current departments near me has at least one lime green engine.

 

[metro9]

Thanks for the advice. The simple graphics do look better but I also think that chevrons are very practical (visibility wise). The flag on the AMR units are a nice touch too.

Is white a good base color for an ambulance or should other options be considered?

 

[jamesm]

I like the type of ambulance patterns we have in Australia, they are all pretty similar here.

 

[LondonMedic]

If you get bored of anecdotes, you could try looking at the research;
http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/fa_323.pdf
http://theheap.net/files/14-04-high-conspicuity-livery.pdf

 

[jamesm]

Some Queensland Emergency Vehicles, it's great you can spot them from a mile away haha