Ambulance
The patient transport and treatment vehicle. Conventionally described in three types by how the body and chassis are combined.
Ambulances are conventionally grouped into three types. A Type I puts a modular box on a truck chassis. A Type II is a van, with the patient compartment inside the original body. A Type III puts a modular box on a van chassis, combining walk-through access with a purpose-built box.
The ambulance is the hardest-worked vehicle in the public safety fleet and the least like the rest of it. Units run long shifts, idle for extended periods to hold climate control and power medical equipment, and accumulate engine hours far far beyond mileage. A PM program built on miles will service them far too late.
Remounting is worth knowing: the patient module can often be moved onto a new chassis at the end of the chassis life, extending the more expensive half of the asset. It changes the replacement arithmetic substantially and is one of the few genuine lifecycle savings available in this class.
