The Disadvantages of Modifying an Old Ambulance

[bigsallysmom]

Did a search and nothing came up.
Ambulances have lots of storage.  A bed surface.  A metal divider between driver and back.

What are the disadvantages of modifying an old ambulance to live in?

 

[ArtW]

Gas mileage, I'm sure, other than that I can't think of any
So if you're eyeballing one in my area, don't tell me much about it, or I might buy it from under you
J/K, I wouldn't headhunt your find, I would love to find an ambo, though, sounds like it'd work well

 

[ZoNiE]

They are heavy duty, made for severe duty so they will probably be built like a tank and last forever (pro) but heavy means a lot of fuel (con).

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

The question that comes to my mind is:

"Why would they be getting rid of it if it wasn't already beat to death?"

 

[ArtW]

for the same reason PDs get rid of their cruisers: it's time for new ones

 

[highdesertranger]

someone posted awhile back about all the nasty's that could be living in there. I would think that it has been completely cleaned, but on the other hand hospitals get completely cleaned and they still have nasty's. if it was me I wouldn't worry about it. highdesertranger

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

for the same reason PDs get rid of their cruisers: it's time for new ones

Police Departments get to spend tax dollars.  Governments budget a certain amount every year for such things.

Around here, at least, the rescue squads are part of the volunteer fire departments, and buying a new vehicle usually requires fund raising drives that can take years to raise enough money.  I'm really not sure how much life is left in these by the time they can finally replace it.

Maybe an ambulance from a paid, municipal fire department would still have a lot of life left in it?  Wonder if the nearby volunteer rescue squads snap those up when they become available?

Anyway, I'm not claiming I know what I'm talking about, I'm just wondering out loud.

 

[ArtW]

Around here we have privately operated EMS companies, the FD has a rescue truck for first responders, but the true ambos are operated privately
some cities do have govt run EMS too, though

 

[rvpopeye]

I know someone on another forum that bought one and put the Ambo box on a med duty diesel truck.
Rebuilt the inside and now has one sweet rig !

 

[Tussah]

someone posted awhile back about all the nasty's that could be living in there.   I would think that it has been completely cleaned,  but on the other hand hospitals get completely cleaned and they still have nasty's.  if it was me I wouldn't worry about it.   highdesertranger

Park it anywhere near Phoenix during the summertime and anything living in it will be dead before supper.  

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Around here we have privately operated EMS companies, the FD has a rescue truck for first responders, but the true ambos are operated privately
some cities do have govt run EMS too, though

Around here - upstate NY - we have EMS companies too.  Both they and the Rescue Squad respond.  But the rescue squad has the ambulance.  The EMT shows up in an SUV loaded with his gear.  The rescue squad is responsible for transport.

Well, with 50 states, we shouldn't be surprised that it's done in different ways in different places.

 

[SternWake]

someone posted awhile back about all the nasty's that could be living in there.   I would think that it has been completely cleaned,  but on the other hand hospitals get completely cleaned and they still have nasty's.  if it was me I wouldn't worry about it.   highdesertranger

On some other forum there was an EMS guy who claimed that he would never ever in a million years and for a million dollars sleep/live in a vehicle once used as an ambulance.  His claimed the floors of these things regularly were coated in the worst ugliness that can escape from the human body and cleaned improperly.  He was also worried of lingering spirits from the many souls who did not make it and expired within.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I saw a TV mystery show once where the detectives walked into the morgue and found the medical examiner calmly eating his lunch on the autopsy table.

When questioned about the safety of it all, his response was:

"Do you know the strength of the disinfectants we use here?  This surface is cleaner and safer than your kitchen table!"

 

[acfdexpo]

On some other forum there was an EMS guy who claimed that he would never ever in a million years and for a million dollars sleep/live in a vehicle once used as an ambulance.  His claimed the floors of these things regularly were coated in the worst ugliness that can escape from the human body and cleaned improperly.  He was also worried of lingering spirits from the many souls who did not make it and expired within.

Bleach-Have a priest bless it.    It's Funny, I saw a couple in a 4x4 converted Ambulance today at Island Beach State Park,NJ on the beach surf fishing.  Never seen one in my neck of the woods before.  Wanted to ask them about it but couldn't catch up with them.

 

[Sabatical]

I work for a small municipal fire dept. and the three ambulance we have get the snot beat out of them. They go from cold start to full tilt boogie then get shut off again. They take turns in the shop and cost a small fortune to keep running. New rigs are routinely cut from tight budgets and we continue to band aid the old ones.
The moral of the story is that even if the odometer reads low miles, they are hard earned. Also anything commercial or custom (which most ambos are) adds big dollars to parts prices. YMMV.

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I know someone on another forum that bought one and put the Ambo box on a med duty diesel truck.
Rebuilt the inside and now has one sweet rig !

That's Baloo from this forum!

https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-My-ambo?highlight=baloo

 

[wagoneer]

Here they do idle for a long time because diesel is free for some folk (med. amb. drivers) taxpayers pick up the fuel bills. I like the layout but the wieght may be a deal breaker.

 

[DannyB1954]

Depending on your State, you might have problems with insurance. In Nevada, private carriers don't want commercial vehicles, and commercial carriers don't want rv's I would ask the insurance if they would carry that particular VIN before buying one.

I spent several days trying to get insurance for a 15' bread van. I gave up.

 

[wagoneer]

Insurance is a game changer, most of my driving life from 1967 to 1993 ws not a big deal, something changed like i had something to lose, and family. So I stepped into line. That said
having never had an accident, it sure cost money to drive anything anywhere. Sucks bigtime

 

[ArtW]

Ambos do a lot of Idling here, too, they rarely go from nothing to full boogie and get shut off cold, they generally idle the entire run that they aren't driving, and they're rarely driven hard
also, they get used as medical transport (taking stable patients from our bitty hospital to da big city hospitals) so freeway driving, too
Looks like ambos area hit or miss thing
the insurance thing is also a worry