Light package on a new Ambulance?

[tniss]

I am specing the light package on our new Type I Ford F-550 4X4 with the new Scorpian Diesel motor.


What do you think?


Front Warning


Stainless steel wrap around push bar with wilth Per-Lux yellow 500 series fog lights


Front grill 4 Whelen 500 series Linear LED all red


Whelen head light flasher


Intersections Whelen 500 series Linear LED


Roof Whelen LED (front fully populated) Freedom with opticom


Front facing top of the box 7 Whelen 900 series LED R/Scene/R/C/R/Scene/R the scenes are the new Whelen LED scene lights for finding addresses on mailboxes and additional lightning to the front. These lights have warnings on them not to look directly into the light as it could cause damage to your vision.


Under the outside R Leds will be 700 series LED turn signals


Side Warning


Side of box top 2 Whelen 900 series LED R and Whelen LED scene lights


Rear wheel fender Whelen 500 series LED R


Rear Warning


Rear Top corners Whelen 900 series LED R


Whelen TAM85 LED arrow stick


Under the arrow stick will be 2 Whelen 700 series LED scene lights


Under the arrow stick in the center will be a Whelen 700 series LED Amber light


At the rear sides mid level will be two Whelen 900 seriies LEDs stacked on top of each other, the lower one will also be a brake light and flash when the warning lights are on.


All LED turn and brake lights at the rear bottom.


Interior compartment doors will have truck light LEDs to provide warning when the doors are open


All compartments will have LED rope lighting


8 Truck Lite LEDs mounted underneath for "Ground Lighting" 2 under front bumper, 4 under the sides and 2 under the rear.


Sirens:


Carson Dual tone 200 watt MAG FORCE with mechanical and horn ring


Power Call Siren (Power Call Tone only on a switch)


Whelen Howler


All Interior lighting to be LED


Unit will also have a 4 way Camera system. left turn, right turn and reverse. standby mode will be a view of the rear PT area.

 

[C420sailor]

Seven lights on the front of the box seems a little excessive to me, especially since they'll be only one foot above a fully populated Freedom.


I always like having a dashlight in an ambulance. Ambulances always have a ton of lights on the box/roof and in the grille, but nothing in between. A dual Talon or Avenger would be cheap but effective mid-level warning that is almost exactly at passenger car rear view mirror height.

 

[philyumpshus]

I agree, I would only put three lights on the front of the box. I would put them on a KKK pattern with two of the grille lights. Set it up so that the KKK minimums are met and then do whatever you want with the rest of the lights (as far as flash patterns). I would make it so that when the truck is in park the lightbar shuts off as well as anything that isn't there to meet KKK. That way you're not blinding people when parked on scene but you'll still have effective warning.


I don't care for Carson's wail tone so I think I would opt for a different siren. It will sound really weird with dual tones from the Carson plus the Powercall, too. My suggestion- Unitrol Omega 90 with the Howler/Rumbler and a real air horn (but not a Stuttertone).


It sounds like you have a nice budget- have you thought about Whelen's M-series lights? The Super LEDs are bright but the Ms are crazy bright.

 

[chfdbigbad]

Seven lights on the front of the box seems a little excessive to me, especially since they'll be only one foot above a fully populated Freedom.

I always like having a dashlight in an ambulance. Ambulances always have a ton of lights on the box/roof and in the grille, but nothing in between. A dual Talon or Avenger would be cheap but effective mid-level warning that is almost exactly at passenger car rear view mirror height.

I agree I would also make the intersection and rear wheel LEDs 700 series not 500

 

[NPS Ranger]

8 Truck Lite LEDs mounted underneath for "Ground Lighting" 2 under front bumper, 4 under the sides and 2 under the rear.

No disrespect intended, but that sounds a bit whackerish... around here it would be laughed at the way you'd laugh at a riceburner with blue LED washer nozzles and underbody lighting. I agree that your front lighting package is a bit excessive - remember that the KKK spec itself requires "The


ambulance standard warning light system shall not impose a continuous average electrical load


exceeding 40 amperes at 14.2 volts."

 

[philyumpshus]

No disrespect intended, but that sounds a bit whackerish... around here it would be laughed at the way you'd laugh at a riceburner with blue LED washer nozzles and underbody lighting. I agree that your front lighting package is a bit excessive - remember that the KKK spec itself requires "The
ambulance standard warning light system shall not impose a continuous average electrical load


exceeding 40 amperes at 14.2 volts."

I think the lights are for utility, not for ground effects.

 

[VolEms]

On the intersect I would go with M7. And M9 LEDs instead of super 900 series.

 

[JohnMarcson]

I agree I would also make the intersection and rear wheel LEDs 700 series not 500

+1 don't use anything smaller than 400 or 700 series

 

[NPS Ranger]

I think the lights are for utility, not for ground effects.

Ahhh OK....

 

[blackcherryxj]

I speced ground lights on the new light-rescue that we had built. Some people think that they are weird, but it is really nice to be able to light the ground up directly under and adjacent to the truck. When you set something down, you are able to see where you put it and if you drop something it is instant sight instead of trying to find a flashlight.


When we are doing a swiftwater rescue, it is nice to be able to see where the ditch is when you pull off close to the edge.


Paul

 

[yakomo]

I would switch the 500 Series light heads for 700 or M7s. One of our new ambulances has 5 900s series in the front and a fully populated Freedom bar. The members state they turn off the light bar when it’s raining or little foggy because the flash back blinds the driver.

 

[CenTexPSE]

WAY Overboard on front warning IMO.


I love the carsons, but cant stand the powercalls!

 

[RoaddoggAK]

We had 4 LED's under each side of our 34' pumper, one under each door and then under the compartments fore and aft of the rear duals. That's more than enough for that truck, I would say that 4 down the side of an ambo would be overkill. Maybe one under the door steps and one midway back on the body would suffice.

 

[TNFF412N]

He said 4 under the sides but 8 total for the truck, 2 under front bumper 2 in rear an 2 on each side.

 

[cory y]

Remember KKK is only mandatory for Govt purchased ambulances. Its not a requirement for all ambulances to have.

 

[Doug]

Front facing top of the box 7 Whelen 900 series LED R/Scene/R/C/R/Scene/R the scenes are the new Whelen LED scene lights for finding addresses on mailboxes and additional lightning to the front. These lights have warnings on them not to look directly into the light as it could cause damage to your vision.

I wouldn't get all eaten up about that warning; you'll probably find that on just about every visual warning device made in the past twenty years.


If you want a scene light, how about the Whelen Pioneer II series? Granted, I don't know if they comply with GSA KKK spec (if you're following it), but it certainly could help to augment the other scene lights. You may want to go with a single or dual floodlight, and maybe mount it at a 45 degree angle on the cab. If you're feeling extra squirrely, you can also flash them.

 

[Alovebaby41]

I would either go with the 900 idea on the front and no lightbar or just the lightbar and 2 900's on the corners. If scene light is an issue like someone else said put on a Pioneer on the front and call it good also i would put take downs in the lightbar. And i'm not a fan of your siren choices i'm more of a whelen siren guy, but hey. And personally i would stay with the 900s not the m series, not a fan of the m's either. JMO.

 

[zacmtz7]

I'd drop the freedom and go with M9's on the box or powerarc series lights for the box. We just got a new mcoy-miller and it has 12 powerArc lights on the box and pretty impressive.

 

[Zoe]

Remember KKK is only mandatory for Govt purchased ambulances. Its not a requirement for all ambulances to have.

Technically this is true... but some states (or departments for that matter) may require that any ambulance under their purview meets KKK requirements.


As far as the specs go, I *love* the idea of under-body lighting. I wish I had specd it on my last truck.


I agree that the box lights are over-kill considering the populated Freedom. I say go with the freedom, and then limit the front box lighting to the KKK lights.


Also, I would consider some 45* warning up front or mounted on the mirrors... It's my personal belief that many ambulances severely lack sufficient intersection warning.


Plus, mounting lights to the mirrors adds warning to the 3rd level that another posted most ambulances lack as well.


(Here is the last truck I specd, complete with mirror lights... albeit on a much different chasis: http://www.elightbars.org/forums/showthread.php?3820-Deerfield-EMS-2010-Lifeline-Ambulance&highlight=Deerfield+EMS )


$0.02

 

[tniss]

A oouple of varifications


Not sure if the 700 series will fit for the intersection (see pic below)


We are not a KKK state.


When the vehicle is in park the Freedom will shut down (including opticom).


The last three rigs that we speced has ground lights, and all future rigs will have them. They are on a switch and also come on when the same side door is open


As far as the power call all of our apparatus have them. This one is being paid for by a member as well as the howler


We are 100% volunteer Fire Department and the last one in our county to still operate a ambulance.


Here are some pics of what we are loooking at. It's not exact but it's close.











Not sure on what color the rig will be though???????

 

[led0987]

You should call your Whelen marketing rep and have them come by and show you all the new stuff. They probably know exactly what works best and where. Call Whelen and have them give you the contact info for their nearest rep. They might even be listed on Whelen's website, not sure though. I wouldn't trust your local distributor or resident whacker to give you the proper info; i did once and found they really didn't know anything.


The rep for my area came to my police department when my shift was up a few months back and met with the truck committee to let us see all the latest and greatest. The truck committee just went out to the factory for an inspection and they said the lighting is amazing.

 

[tniss]

I had a rep stop by when I speced our 2009 KME Engine. I sent a reply card back to Whelen for him to contact me but haven't heard anything. I will try an email on their site.

 

[PursuitElectronics]

Seven lights on the front of the box seems a little excessive to me, especially since they'll be only one foot above a fully populated Freedom.

I always like having a dashlight in an ambulance. Ambulances always have a ton of lights on the box/roof and in the grille, but nothing in between. A dual Talon or Avenger would be cheap but effective mid-level warning that is almost exactly at passenger car rear view mirror height.

While I agree with you....KKK requirements are different. KKK requires a minumum of 10 lights on the box....8 reds, 1 amber (center rear) and 1 white (Center front). We have an ambulance service here in the Tampa area that didnt have lightbars on the their trucks until recently when AEV started giving them package discounts as they sat. In my eyes, you can NEVER have tooooo much light!

 

[nerdly_dood]

In my eyes, you can NEVER have tooooo much light!

Never say never.


In my eyes, too much light ensures that I see the vehicle, but cannot respond accordingly because I can't see anything else. Less is more.