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Winter Is Coming!

Maybe you’re a Game of Thrones fan unhappy with the final two seasons and an ending that felt rushed and arbitrary. Maybe you’ve never seen an episode. No matter, the calendar we live by says winter is right around the corner so we figured now was an excellent time to point out some Frazer features that can improve your cold weather experience. Bring the Heat You probably know we’re famous for ice cold air conditioning on our Generator Powered EMS modules. But you may not be aware that the same system has a beefy heater to keep you warm during cold weather months. Our electrical system allows you to plug into shore line and run the A/C or heat while the vehicle is in the station. Couple this with excellent insulation which provides thermal and acoustic protection and you’ll have a comfortable patient compartment in almost any conditions. If you’re located in a region given to winters colder than we see in Texas, we offer a supplemental hot water heater that runs off the chassis heater. Some services will close the valve on this heater during warmer months, so if you already have one, don’t forget to open that back up as the temperature starts to drop. Maintain Your Pressure Colder temperature can affect your tire pressure causing fluctuations that result in lower pressure and consequent uneven tire wear. Checking your pressure on a regular basis is a good policy no matter the weather, but becomes more important through the winter. Frazer offers the CrossFire valve extenders with an integrated pressure gauge to help you keep tabs on your rear dual wheels. Fill both tires from one stem and monitor pressure with ease. Again, this isn’t just a good idea for winter months, but is a helpful option year round. Chain Chain Chains Wintry road conditions can wreak havoc on confident driving and your crews don’t have time to spend putting on tire chains. If you’re area is prone to snow or icy conditions, consider OnSpot tire chains. Rather than putting a full chain on your tires, the OnSpot system swings an actuated arm carrying chains right in front of the tire providing extra traction without the hassle. For more information on these and many other excellent Frazer options and features, please give one of our Sales Team members a call at 888-832-9371. Or you can click here to learn more about what Frazer has to offer your service.

Behold! The Frazer/ACETECH Demo!

An Ace in the Hole To celebrate our annual pilgrimage to the Texas State EMS Conference, we proudly announce a first-of-its-kind EMS vehicle combining the legendary durability and reliability of Frazer’s generator powered design along with the technological sophistication provided by the robust ACETECH multiplexing system. This demo unit represents multiple years of research and development trying to achieve the delicate balance between features we’ve built our reputation on and features our customers have been loudly asking for in ever greater numbers. Finding The Right Partner If you are one of our longtime customers, you know Frazer doesn’t take big steps like this without performing our due diligence. In the course of responding to this call for a more modern approach, we looked at building a system in-house, and we looked at a number of available options. With ACETECH we found a single-source integrated system where we’ll know exactly who to call when a customer needs support – or less politely, which throat to choke. ACETECH has definitely acted as a partner in this process, and we’re excited to offer something we feel meets our extremely high standards for performance on your vehicles. Their technical teams have worked hand in hand with our engineering and IT departments to ensure this hybrid system gives you what you need – Frazer Generator Power to satisfy all your electrical demands, and AceTech’s fully integrated performance monitoring and control system to make it all sing. Why ACETECH? Why Now? With over 65,000 product installations worldwide, we feel ACETECH’s proven track record and success in Europe and the Middle East would translate well as they look to move into the US EMS market. Once upon a time some of us here at Frazer used to dream about a big room full of computer screens showing us where all of our vehicles were on a map and sending real time information regarding performance or service issues. The AceTech AVI system makes that dream an achievable reality.  This demo represents over a year’s worth of working together with ACETECH’s engineering and technical teams to craft a solution that works with our existing features. And while we don’t expect this system will be for everyone, we are acutely aware that many of you very much want to take advantage of the feature sets this move allows to happen. Awesomely Awesome ACETECH Features! One of our favorite aspects of the ACETECH product suite centers around the ability to use their different modules either in whole or in part. This particular demo includes all but one module, the RFID asset tracking piece, but all modules can be added to a new build (and , excepting the ECU module, likely an existing vehicle – though with different complexity levels) as individual components. AVI The Advance Vehicle Informatics module (AVI) allows for driver monitoring, feedback and coaching. As Road Safety exited the market last year, AVI represents an excellent replacement and can be configured to act as a one to one replacement, all the way down to the feedback sounds. ACETECH’s AWS powered servers capture and permanently save all driver data on all vehicles equipped with AVI. What this means for fleet managers, department directors, and training personnel is a massive data set providing real time remote monitoring coupled with a robust web-based reporting interface to evaluate historical trends with vehicle systems performance, driver actions, fuel consumption and carbon emissions (with the EcoRun module), all within granular, role-based customer portal. A service using this module could even grant access to their preferred vehicle service provider to allow tailored access to vehicle information for planning and reacting to any issues that might arise. ACETECH ECU and iNCOMMAND The solid state Electronic Control Unit acts as the brains of the module functions, and in conjunction with the iNCOMMAND touch screen control computer gives medics full control of their working environment. Emergency light flash patterns, interior light controls, door open indicators, and vehicle camera monitoring are just some of the control elements available with this system.  And because the iNCOMMAND touchpad is actually a Windows PC, it can even be configured to function with your MDT. Plus, once your vehicle control schema has been configured, the underlying code can be copied to the ECU of any new vehicle to have an exact match for your fleet. Used in conjunction with the AVI system, the system allows not only for remote monitoring, but also remote diagnostics, troubleshooting, and repairs. ACETECH’s presence in both the US and Europe expands available support times with the manufacturer in addition to the availability you’ve come to expect from Frazer.  EcoRun The ACETECH EcoRun module works with your chassis to monitor engine usage and power needs. The module features configurable parameters to turn the truck off and on as needed. For services looking to reduce fuel consumption or to reduce carbon emissions, this sort of system gives fleet managers and directors both the control and the resulting data to show their communities real savings and impact.  And while there are other solutions in the market which address the same issues, Frazer feels the integrated nature of the ACETECH product line gives both builder and end user a level of confidence that there won’t be any finger pointing should a performance issue arise. AVA Adding the AVA module provides real time, configurable voice feedback. Depending on your requirements this module can let medics know anything from the status of emergency light activation to door open status to fuel levels and beyond. In a world with an ever increasing amount of stimuli, AVA offers the security of an extra set of “eyes” to keep your crews informed and aware of potential hazards in their working evironment. RFID Tracsense Let the magic of near-field communications take one more potential blind spot off your plate. The ACETECH Tracsense module keeps tabs on any tagged asset on your vehicle. Used in conjunction with the AVA module and the iNCOMMAND control screen, you could have your vehicle

Ambulance Module Construction – Framing

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Over the years we’ve heard a lot of different questions surrounding our construction methods. Why the square corners? Do your modules hold up? How do you mount the module to the truck? Is it safe? In this episode we’ll tackle some of these questions and maybe even answer some you didn’t know you should be asking. The Modular Body From the time we started building truck mounted modular vehicles, Frazer has needed to design for extremely harsh environments, frequently the kinds without roads. So we were ready for the transition to the rigors of the EMS industry. As with any structure, strength comes from a solid foundation and a Frazer EMS vehicle is no exception. Base Frame The strength of your Frazer module begins with an extraordinarily beefy base frame. Let’s take a look at some of the specs: So what do all those numbers mean? The heat treated 6061-T6 alloy tubing provides a Frazer module with an excellent strength (20,000 – 40,000 psi tensile) to weight ratio, excellent weldability, and advanced corrosion resistance. This particular alloy represents a typical first choice for architectural and structural applications and we appreciate the durability and strength it has provided us and our customers over the years. Construction Our 3” x 1.5” base frame tubing represents a 12.5% increase over the 2” x 2” tubing commonly used in base frame throughout the rest of the industry. And our intricate frame design features shorter spans of 3” x 1.5” channel reinforcing the longer 3” x 1.5” tubing lengths in parallel with the chassis frame for maximum strength along that axis.  All of this tubing receives additional support from .250” and .375” plate welded throughout the frame. These plates provide a solid surface for cot and captain’s chair retention, as well as O2 bottle holders, and other optional features. They simultaneously create extremely strong corner gussets at key locations.  And there wouldn’t be any point in designing and fabricating a ridiculously strong base frame if we didn’t attach it to the truck in the strongest way possible. For that we take eight (ten on a 14’ module)  4” x 10” x .250” steel shear plates and bolt them to both the chassis frame and the base frame with .5” Grade 8 bolts. Each plate uses 4 bolts, 2 in the chassis frame and 2 in channels on the module frame. The module bolts are insulated with rubber to avoid electrolysis. Each bolt carries a tensile strength of 150,000 psi. This attachment method is the primary reason we’ve NEVER had a base frame detach from its chassis during a violent collision.  Side and Front Wall Frames So you put all that structure in your base frame, why wouldn’t you do the same for the side walls? 34 years of both building EMS vehicles and repairing them after major wrecks have given us a much greater sense of where most impacts occur than we could get from simple controlled destructive testing. And we’ve found that side wall impacts most commonly occur at or below module floor level. Once again, the beefy base frame helps out in those circumstances, but the side wall frames take very little impact. Using 1.5” x 1.5” x .125” square tubing through the side walls allows us to maintain necessary structural strength for things like mounting cabinets and compartments, seat belt plates, grab rail plates, and more, without adding unnecessary weight to your module. New cot retention systems, upgraded medical devices, bariatric requirements and more have increased the empty weight of the modern EMS module. This tubing dimension also yields extra space throughout the interior of the module resulting in more room to move and work on your patients. Where the driver and passenger side walls meet the front wall results in a corner structure that, like the strongest portions of the base frame, ends up at 3” x 1.5”. This welded, “laminated” corner piece is also bolted together to create an extremely strong leading edge of the module. Front corner impacts happen very frequently and the Frazer design provides strength where you need it. Some folks complain about the looks of the “square corners.” But we know how important they are to your safety, so we think they’re kind of awesome. Rear Walls The rear corner impact is kind of the gold standard for how an ambulance gets in a wreck. So common, in fact, that Frazer has made these two corners the focal point of some serious strength. Our rear walls feature 2” x 2.5” rectangular tubing, a 25% increase over industry standard. Again, we know where crashes occur. And we know where you need strength and durability. So if we’re going to add the weight associated with a larger extrusion, we’re going to apply it where it makes sense for your safety. Plates for grab handles, door hold opens, and other options provide structural reinforcement throughout. Roof If your vehicle rolls over, and we know they do, you’d better have a solid roof. Consequently, Frazer views the roof construction in much the same way as our base frame, it needs to be as sturdy as the foundation. Accordingly, we use the same 2” x 2.5” rectangular tubing as the rear wall around the perimeter of the roof, where that structure will be welded to the supporting side walls. The resulting corner piece ends up with an effective 3.5” side and of course there is .250” plate throughout for overhead grab bars and other optional equipment. Durability Everything we learned about building vehicles for the extreme environments found in the oil fields around the world found its way directly into our EMS vehicles. Some seismic recording modules we built well over 40 years ago are still in use. If you saw our last post maybe you noticed the Bellaire Fire Department still runs a module we built 26 years ago. And they’ve remounted it twice. So yeah, we know a thing or twenty about durability. Testing Testing And not only

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