EMS/Rescue Taco!

Hey guys, since we all know the overall greatness and amazingness that is the tacoma, I have been recently mulling over the idea of the Tacoma as an emergency response vehicle. Here's what I'm working with: this vehicle would be used for semi-regular (several calls/week) response to EMS calls in a suburban/rural environment by the medical director. It would also respond off-road for SAR and rescue operations in a mountainous environment. On top of all this, it would also have to be a reasonable daily driver. And while cost is of course a consideration, I'm also just curious to see if anyone has any fantastic and fun ideas if cost were not really a big deal.

I've seen some threads on here about volunteer firefighter lighting setups, and while the vehicle will certainly need lights and siren, no need to light it up like a Christmas tree.

So in summary if you were building this truck, what would YOU put on/in it?

 

I've always liked the look of badass offroad trucks with utility beds. You'll need all the storage for air, linens, meds, etc. Some custom storage designs for backboards and a stair chair could be pretty cool



Obviously not a taco but it's a good example of the storage bed.

 

Have you ever seen a utility bed on a taco before? I haven't ever seen a commercially produced one. I was thinking about either a roll out tray-style organizer or a utility-style topper or a combination of those two.

 

Check out these

http://www.knapheide.com/product/compact-service-bodies/

Doesn't mention the Tacoma specifically though. Those trays are cool

 

The Tacoma seems a little small for a dual purpose EMS/SAR rig. I've seen full size F250s and the likes loaded out with gear. I would be afraid to go overweight with gear on it.. but I'll give it a shot..

05+ DoubleCab Longbed
- mild lift, 255/85/16 A/T tires
- rockers/sliders with welded-in attachment area for high/low angle rescue equpiment
- offroad bumpers w/ HID lighting, Warn PowerPlant Winch front and rear
- expedition style- bed rack (similar in shape to Boxrocket's old setup) for backboards, Stokes Basket, LED lighting, misc. SAR equipment (using labelled Pelican boxes affixed to rack)
- slide out rack in bed below rack to carry larger equipment (extrication cutters/spreader/combi, portable generator, chain saw)
- ALS/First Responder bag, 02 tank, trauma kit store in back seating area
- ARB fridge/freeze for water/gatorade/food in back seating area
- LED emergency lighting, maybe low profile lightbar or LED strobes to provide 360* visibility

That should work. Oh, its gotta be red too!

 

Utility bed is a bad choice for ems, unless it is a BLS unit. Fluids will have to be stored in the cab where temps can be regulated. If it is a ALS unit, all fluids and meds have to stay in the cab. I used to work EMS for over 8 years and we had 3 medic intercept f350's with utility beds and they all cursed them. Too much stuff had to stay in the cab, half of the bed storage was actually utilized.

If it's just a first responder type set up the. You'll be fine. Since you actually carry very little and it can be stored in the "first in" bag.

Most EMS intercept vehicles are mostly SUV's for a reason.

 

OK, so for a little more clarification- this will be my response vehicle (sweet eh?) I'll be serving as an operational medical director with an EMS agency and rescue squad. They won't be providing me a department vehicle yet becuase they don't have the cash lying around, and nobody in my position has ever been as hands-on and runnnig calls on a regular basis. Hopefully down the road I'll be able to acquire a new vehicle and get it fully outfitted... (I'll defnitely start a sweet build thread for that) A few friends of mine in other areas have been in similar positions and have just outfitted thier personal vehicles with the basics for safe response. It makes sense, because you kind of need to be with/in your vehicle when you need to respond to a call, since you don't know when you'll need to and a dedicatd vehicle sitting in a garage somewhere else won't help at that point. So I've settled on the following to get going, and although I've used this stuff for over a decade in fire and EMS, that's as far as I've gone, never ordered, purchased or installed any of it before, but this should be a fun project. I'd be happy to hear from anyone with experience with any of this stuff:
2001 Tacoma, 3.4 L 4x4, 2.5" OME lift with 33" Michelin MTS tires- offer good on and off highway performance

1. Communications: Although there are many advantages to vehicle-mounted radios, I'm thinking I'm going to skip it here. The install would take up a lot of space in my vehicle and we get good repeater coverage throughout the county on my handheld. I think Some sort of charging cradle installed in the vehicle to charge spare batteries would be a good solution- any thoughts?
iPad with mounting cradle- to run the CAD and view active calls/dispatch info and routing as well as write reports.

2. Medical Gear- I'm planning on simply using one of the ALS jump bags- really no need for too much additional gear. Won't carry a 12-lead capable monitor- just too costly, and it wouldn't be utilized enough to justify it. Will keep 1 D-cylinder of O2 and and AED with the kit. These should fit nicely inside the cab behind my seat. I will probably build a plywood box/platform, and cover it with carpet that will serve as an organizer for that gear and leave the passenger side available for passengers. Only problem with driver's side that I see is that the passenger side has the anchor points for the child seat that would be very handy in securing this thing down. Any ideas on how to secure a platform/box like this that only takes up half of the back seat area?
PPE will be in an action packer in the bed, secured under a locked topper.

3. Emergency Warning- Lights and siren. Not looking to spend a fortune here, and I have no clue where to start. I need 360* visibility, but nothing insane. Probably a dash light, some kind of rear traffic advisor or strobe, and a couple of small strobes facing sideways either mounted in the cab facing out the side windows, or in the bed, facing sideways out the topper windows. As far as a siren, I've seen some pretty inexpensive, remote mount ones that I can install unde my seat and put in remote switches so they won't be too intrusive. Any advice in this category would be definitely appreciated, as I have zero experience, and the stuff seems to range in price dramatically!

So that's what I'm thinking initially. Generally I want to keep it simple, this will be primarly my daily driver after-all. I'm definitley not trying to fill my vehicle with stuff and spend a fortune, so I want to keep simplicity as the foremost principle in this build, so I'm going to try to install everything as cleanly as possible. I'd love to hear any feedback or advice y'all have!

 

Sounds like a pretty sweet gig! I wish I could make my personal vehicle a response vehicle for the volunteer agency I work for.

Handheld sounds like it would work fine, maybe just have a lapel on it for use in the truck so you don't have to keep picking up the radio. Looking at my '02 cab, not a ton of room to work with, but you might be able to do something with the cupholder area to mount a charger. Maybe put the switches to the lights/sirens in that area as well, or on the center console, so you can operate that while driving with your arm on the armrest.

Stoked to see how it turns out!

 

This is an extended cab.. not 4 door, right?

- some kind of charging base or battery charger would be a good idea. Wire it through a switch so you can turn it on/off when needed. Maybe a rechargeable flashlight (Pelican?) too? You could probably find a Motorola vehicle radio that would easily fit somewhere on the console or below a Single DIN head unit.

- Go with the storage platform in the back, or you'll be losing everything in the foot holes in the back seat. Maybe put some kind of hook or two to hang a bag/AED/other options

- sirennet.com or strobesnmore.com LED's and a small siren+speaker combo. As long as you know basic wiring, you can wire LEDs. Most come with an additional wire you can sync flashers together with. Starr Mini-Phantom is great for a windshield option. Here's a whole thread on Taco's w/ emergency lighting:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...your-setup-fire-emergency-lights-1st-gen.html

EDIT

This threads got more setups too:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/lighting/126265-emergency-lighting.html

 

This sounds similar to what I'm doing (slowly) with my 02 4dr.

I suggest looking here: http://www.odysseyauto.com/cabinets/cabcabinet.html
the picture of the retrofitted double cab would work great to hold a SAR pack, airway management and AED as well as an ALS kit (first out bags are rarely ALS of course).

Lights are lights, I won't get into that. Comms are the same. GEAR and how to store it is where I get all excited

The bed... tacos are notorious for having limited bed space. I suggest a good contractor grade topper (with side opening windows). A slide-out shelf would be handy. I've priced toppers for my 02 and was too scared to buy one ($2000.00??!!).

I agree with Jay... good ARB or WARN bumpers. Even better, get a good fabricator to set you up with an air compressor which is run to the rear bumpers. Have those made of twin 4" tubes... they act as air storage for tire inflation (I'll assume you aren't doing vehicle extrication). One thing about the winch however... try and get a receiver hitch mounted winch so you can mount it front or rear. We're talking about a modular vehicle here afterall. Why limit yourself? If your luck is like anyone elses, you'll need your winch to recover yourself and it'll be jammed up with mud or tree that you slid into from the front :/

Tires / Lift... I don't see the need for much of a lift on a SAR or EMS rig as you need good stability while on road... my opinion is no more than a 2 1/2" lift and 33" tires but that's only if you NEED it.

Lastly, I'd beef up the suspension / springs. You'll be hauling a lot more weight on a daily basis. No need wearing out stock equipment and decreasing your maneuverability while running emergency.

Hope I didnt leave anything out Looking forward to seeing your rig!

 

I have a BedSlide for sale.

A member on here (TKGN1) built a custom flatbed for his double cab:

 

So badass. Would actually make a wicked SARV