Ambulance Design Tips: Critical Care Unit

Designing an emergency vehicle is always an exciting, yet nerve-racking task. It gets more intense when you’re designing a specialized emergency vehicle, such as a critical care unit (CCU).

When designing standard units we’re given many choices for basic floor plans and options to provide for the rigors of patient care and transport, but these options only grow when looking at a CCU. Although both transport patents, the CCU is and can be vastly different in scope, operation, staffing, size and cost than the standard ambulance.

Here are a few tips to make the process a bit easier to work through.

1. Work closely with the staff members who are going to operate the CCU and those who will be operating within it. This group will provide you with ideas and a list of what they’re looking for. Break the list down with them into wants and needs. Make sure everyone knows items on the list are ideas only and more time will be needed in the process to research if the ideas can actually come to fruition through construction. Be vitally aware of your budget, both total and target. It does not take many good ideas to break the bank.
2. Search the industry, looking at vendor lists of completed CCU trucks. Never be afraid to replicate someone else’s ideas for the layout of a CCU. Each system operating a specialized transport unit have its own specific needs; by looking through 10 or 15 designs you’ll find ideas you haven’t thought of yet, and possibly the perfect layout to accompany your project.
3. If you already have a vendor, work closely with them to put together a rough design and present it to the original group to continue refinement. If you are writing a specification for bid, start by asking several vendors for basic specifications. Get the specifications electronically, if possible (usually the norm), and begin to change the specification line by line to match your vision. Additionally, you can search for others who have recently written a specification and ask if you can use and modify theirs; this will save you endless hours of time in the process.
4. Now, begin to refine the basic design, looking at the function and fit for the work to be performed in it. If it’s to transport neonatal patients, does it have the available power outlets and medical gas hookups for the isolette? How is seating configured, how many people are to be seated, is there working room away from all the obstacles and cabinets? Are the cabinets in the right locations and sized adequately? Move around the items where you need them and ensure you make arrangements for secure storage and occupant safety.
5. Begin to provide specific product information for each and every item in your written specification. This includes manufacturer name if a specific component is needed. An example would be the type of seating, such as captain’s chairs or bench seats, but also the quality of seat from basic to the most comfortable. If you are not looking for a specific brand, allow the bidder to provide the specific information, but be sure to mention if you want the vendor’s standard component. Leaving things open to interpretation may lead to higher end items finding their way onto your bill when you weren’t expecting them.
6. Chassis selection is a must and was left out of the equation this long for a very good reason. If you select the chassis first, you limit what you can do to the chassis you have selected. By selecting at this point in the process, you can pick the chassis which will work with your needs. Make sure to work with a dealer specializing in the chassis type you choose, as with most CCU heavy-duty chassis you again have a range of options when it comes to the engine, transmission, highway gear and seating. Many of these chassis are just as long as a standard ambulance specification and must be tailored to your use. Just buying a chassis off the lot will not ensure you have a CCU which will perform when needed.
7. Now you have a chassis, a specification and a CCU rough design. Price the items on your list yourself, starting with an average base price gathered from at least four vendors. Then begin to add in additional items and pieces you would want. This process can sometimes be aided with the vendor of your choice, but, again, if you’re going to bid out the project, it would be a good idea to know where your budget number sits against the work you have done.

There is much more work that goes into the design of a CCU that’s hidden between the lines, but I hope this short list of tips aids in providing the spur of knowledge needed to design the next great CCU.

Dan Fellows, who has served 17 years with the Richmond Ambulance Authority, has accumulated 24 years of emergency vehicle maintenance and design experience. In his tenure at RAA he has designed and implemented solar panel systems for fleet ambulances as well as re-engineered the idle-off heat and air conditioning system. He is also a licensed Virginia state inspector, Stryker, Excellance and Ford factory-certified technician. In his spare time, Dan is a published fiction author and author of the Common Sense EMS Fleet Maintenance Guide.