In the Fire & EMS industry, one of the most prevalent safety concerns is accidents involving ambulances. Considering emergency vehicles travel at much higher speeds, accidents often result in severe injury or death.
According to a recent report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), vehicle fatality rates for emergency responders are estimated to be up to 4.8 times higher than the national average. This means it is more important than ever to ensure the safety of Fire & EMS employees.
As an EMS Manager, when one or more of your ambulances is out of service for extensive repairs, it can become very difficult to manage your fleet. So what’s the best way to ensure your ambulances get back on the road faster?
1. Effectively Navigate Through the Insurance Claims Process
Your department has just experienced the incredibly unfortunate event of a wreck, and God willing, no one was injured. Unless you personally know Jake with State Farm, the last thing you now want to deal with is the insurance company.
Let us help you, we’ve been doing this since before the iPhone was a thing, so, unfortunately, we’ve done this dance a time or two. We can provide the adjuster with valuations, replacement plans, timelines, and most importantly, our expert opinion as a builder of custom vehicles.
2. Minimize Structural Damage Using Stronger Construction Methods
One of the best ways to minimize damage to your ambulance is to ensure it’s manufactured on an extremely strong base frame, it’s the backbone that all other safety features are built upon. The strength of a Frazer EMS Vehicle begins with a heat-treated 6061-T6 alloy frame that provides excellent strength to weight ratio. 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.
Our 3” x 1.5” base frame tubing represents a 12.5% increase over the 2” x 2” tubing commonly used in base frames 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.
Learn more about our Module Construction – Framing.
3. Modular Construction & Faster Repair Times
There may be times when one of your emergency vehicles is involved in a wreck and perhaps only the chassis has been damaged. If your ambulance is not constructed modularly (meaning your patient compartment, air conditioner, and electrical systems are deeply tied directly into the chassis) this can lead to very complicated and expensive repair bills that may leave your unit out of service for a long time.
When you choose a Frazer, you’re getting an Emergency Vehicle that has been designed from the ground up to be completely modular. Everything in the patient compartment from the electrical system to the 120V air conditioner is 100% self-contained.
Frazer units that sustain significant chassis damage are considerably easier to get back on the road because chassis can be unmounted and replaced with a new chassis much quicker.
4. Crash Testing Helps Develop Better Safety Standards
When evaluating an emergency vehicle manufacturer it’s important to understand the safety requirements of your service and the crash testing methods used by the manufacturer.
Some manufacturers like to choose testing methods that involve flashy marketing videos that attempt to show how their vehicles stand up in a simulated crash. What these methods fail at showing is a real-world example of how these vehicles have held together in a real accident and the outcomes of the affected crew.
Over the years, we’ve guided our customers through many crash-related events and helped them get back on the road faster. Our service engineers use real-world applications from our customer’s experiences to improve our safety policies and manufacturing procedures.
“Laura, I just wanted to thank you and all your staff for building a strong and safe ambulance. This unit was in a near head-on crash on Monday…another vehicle swerved into the path of our truck striking it on the driver side which allowed the vehicle to catch the compartment behind the driver side door. This impact caused the unit to roll at least one time. Fortunately, there was no patient on board and the crew had only minor injuries. Again thank you all Frazer!!! the safety features performed above and beyond.”
Chuck Sawyer, Fire Marshal, Retired
Jackson County Fire Rescue
5. 24 Hour Factory Direct Service
One of the most important things to consider when choosing a service partner is how familiar they are with the construction of your vehicle. What better way to ensure the quality of service to your vehicles than to choose the same company that built them?
The Frazer Service Department is available 24/7 to help you with all of your service needs. We’ll work with you directly to get your unit into our shop, repaired, and back in service as quickly as possible. In the event where you’d prefer to work with your local shop, we’ll ship the parts you need directly to them. Also, you can choose to work with one of our many Authorized Service Centers around the U.S.
6. Access to Rental Vehicles
Frazer is happy to offer pre-owned rental vehicles while we help you work through the repair or replacement process. All vehicles have to pass a Texas State Inspection and we go over them extensively in our service shop before releasing them for use.
All rental vehicles are subject to availability. To schedule a repair or for more information related to this topic, email [email protected] or call toll-free 888-372-9371 and ask for a Service Advisor. We sincerely hope you never have to make that call to us, but if you do, we’re here to help.
