Behind the wheel of an ambulance. The white and red Volkswagen is manufactured near Prague
There are a lot of them and they are easy to see thanks to the different strong colors. Nevertheless, we somehow ignore them, we take them as part of civilization. We are talking about ambulances, more specifically ambulances. They are not primarily intended for saving lives, but rather take people to the hospital who have no other way to get there.
Nevertheless, they have the right of priority driving, blue beacons and a siren, and according to the registration certificate, they are “special purpose vehicles”. You must be 21 years old to drive, even if they can weigh up to 3.5 tonnes, and if you are a professional ambulance driver, you must undergo regular medical examinations.
Thanks to the gas pistons, the ramp can be easily and quickly disassembled and assembled by one person.
Photo: Marek Bednář, News
Such an ambulance appeared in the journalistic fleet of Volkswagen utility vehicles, and I hold the keys to it. At first glance, there is only a glued T6.1 generation transporter in the “holobyt” version. It has a weak engine, only a five-speed transmission, manual air conditioning and perhaps the only extra charge is a central touch screen with Android Auto support, but without its own navigation. There is no cruise control; after all, I hadn’t seen a steering wheel without buttons in a press car for a long time either.
The reason I’m testing this car is not in the front. It’s behind the counter, and when I take over the ambulance, I have a lot of questions as to why the installation is done this way. Why is the floor speckled or why are the seats at the front made of Volkswagen, but at the back blue leatherette from a completely different manufacturer. And also, what ‘s the second, gray key that seems to belong to the 1996 field.
The interior lacks almost any equipment.
Photo: Marek Bednář, News
I soon come to the key – it’s from a lockable box under the two-seater passenger in the cab. I’m more just playing with the rest and researching what it can do before it goes to a contracted meeting with the representative of the manufacturer of this car – to the FD service Prague in Kuří u Říčan.
“You have in your hand a completely representative sample of the most often ambulance of the transport health service, which runs on Czech roads. That is, this is the most frequently used brand, model and equipment of an ambulance used in the Czech Republic for the transport of the sick, wounded, ”explains David Mašek, company representative.
Four seated patients and one recumbent can fit in the back. The seat, which is sideways to the direction of travel, can turn, or this is how a person puts an injured leg on a transport chair.
Photo: Marek Bednář, News
It supplies customer cars complete, it is not the case that the customer brings his car with a request for conversion. The company orders the body with chassis and engine in the optimal configuration for conversion. This piece came to the workshop incomplete, in semi-finished condition – with front seats and additional air conditioning for the rear compartment, that’s all.
Effectiveness plays a key role
It didn’t even have an interior trim. “We make the lining in such a way that it can be disinfected, washed … so that it can withstand everyday use, when they carry on average twenty-five or thirty people a day in that car,” explains Mašek.
The installation is made to withstand rough handling and the most aggressive disinfectants.
Photo: Marek Bednář, News
The installation is made of a composite material that is easy to wash and disinfect and will withstand the most aggressive disinfectants. All paneling is white, only the floor is blue, speckled. There is much less dirt on it like this, and most importantly, it does not step on the “paths” that can be seen on the floors of buses after a few years of use.
“My” ambulance is a total of eight seats, with the fact that the transported persons can only travel in the back, where there are five seats. Two normal seats just behind the partition, one wheelchair, one folding and swivel seat and one lounger.
The driver’s comfort is not enough – no luxury, but no ladder.
Photo: Milan Malíček, Právo
The folding and swivel seat has two purposes here. When someone is supposed to sit on it, they turn so that the person is sitting on it normally in the direction of travel, and at the same time another passenger in the transport chair behind her has nowhere to put his feet. Or the seat of this seat, if left completely sideways in the direction of travel, can be used for more comfortable stretching of the legs in plaster, if the passenger in the transport chair is currently handicapped in this way.
The transport chair is locked in its rail in the floor. In order to be able to go out and in, it has a tilting ramp equipped with a gas strut. Thanks to it, the ramp can be lifted with one smooth upward movement and the other firmly clicks into place. The ergonomics of use, as well as its speed, are amazing.
Under the lounger are two drawers, behind it another, vertical storage space.
Photo: Milan Malíček, Právo
The couch is similar. I lower the short ramp, pull the lounger out, and his wheeled legs mimic themselves. When I want to put it back, I start a little and at the right moment I pull only from the handles, which unlock the front leg. I keep pushing and pull the handle all the way out to unlock the other leg, and then I just snap the couch in its rail.
What is the use of such equipment for a transport ambulance? “It predominates those clients who are unable to get an examination or are unable to get home from the hospital themselves,” Mašek explains its purpose. If you have problems with movement, cannot walk well enough or even get out of bed properly, it would be difficult to get on ordinary seats. Despite the fact that this car has a folding step at the side door.
Lighthouses are not useless
So how often are blue beacons? “Probably at least on the other hand, when it is used, it probably has a reason. It is necessary to transport pediatric oncology patients during transport, they must be examined on time… Today, if you leave an hour earlier, you will be surprised by the situation on the road, ”Mašek outlines.
The beacons are switched on by a yellow switch on the auxiliary console at the top. To the right of it, the lighting in the patient area and a place that can be used, for example, to install a radio station are switched off.
Photo: Marek Bednář, News
No other modifications, such as the engine or chassis, but this transporter does not. “In order to make it as cheap as possible for the end client, we try to make the most of the factory version, which is always the cheapest. This car is configured so that we don’t have to change anything on it so that we can use as many components as possible with the original ones, ”explains Mašek.
Although FD Servis, not Volkswagen, supplies these cars for the reason of its customers, it is from this that they travel to Volkswagen most often for service. “It will appear in our country at least, maybe twice in five years, when something relaxes, it starts to vibrate, something fails. that service is mainly oil, brakes and similar operating things.
How much does such a construction cost? “The current price is from 350 to 450 thousand without VAT,” says Mašek, adding that most cars supply customers as a whole at a price of one to 1.2 million crowns without VAT.
Complete reconstruction is a matter of 350-450 thousand crowns without VAT.
Photo: Milan Malíček, Právo
Of course, that’s the only way someone can’t buy an ambulance to go shopping. But maybe, when I meet her somewhere, she will know more about what she hides under her skin, and that it is also made in the Czech Republic.
Otherwise a transporter like everyone else
But it was well equipped compared to the ambulance cabin, and also had a fairly more powerful engine. Here I have the absolute basis that can be bought with the glazed version of the Kombi in the Czech Republic, which means 110 horses and a manual five-quality. The acceleration of this stallion to a hundred is an endless 14.3 seconds, with an empty car – no ambulance, no passengers.
In addition to the lighthouses, there are additional reversing lights on the roof.
Photo: Marek Bednář, News
So dynamics is not his strong point. On the other hand, history teaches us that when the engine gives only a small amount of power from a (relatively) large volume, it lasts a long time. Already below the highway of thirty-one qualities are seriously lacking, but in light of how hard the ambulance work awaits, I estimate toughness as a more important factor than performance and acceleration.
After all, this car has a slightly different way to get somewhere fast – the blue beacons on the roof. I can make someone feel like a superman, but I’m a little nervous about them, even if they’re off, let alone try to turn them on. Like I’m not behind the wheel of such a car. As if it shouldn’t take me shopping and to my father-in-law.
Which I don’t belong and doesn’t have, its purpose is somewhere else, but I manage to drive away my thoughts and I just drive a transporter – a van that is ubiquitous.
Volkswagen T6.1 Transporter – Ambulance
Photo: Milan Malíček, Právo
In the end, I don’t even know if I can even write something like a conclusion for a car like this. So I’ll try it differently – I learned more about how and where transport ambulances are created, what this or that is for, why it’s done this way, and how hard their lives are. And it happens every day.
Ambulance Volkswagen T6.1 Transporter L2H1 2.0 TDI 110k | |
Engine: |
1968 ccm, in-line diesel four-cylinder, turbo |
Max. performance: |
81 kW (110 hp) at 3200-4250 rpm |
Max. torque: |
250 Nm at 1250-3100 rpm |
Transmission: |
five-speed manual |
0-100 km / h: |
15.5 s * |
Top speed: |
164 km / h * |
Average consumption: |
6.4-6.8 l / 100 km * |
Operating / maximum weight: |
2372/3080 kg |
Length x WIDTH X HEIGHT: |
5304 x 1904 x 1990 (without warning light) mm |
Driven axle: |
front |
Basic price with VAT: | CZK 799,900 |
* – values according to the Volkswagen catalog, which apply to an operating weight of 1859 kg, stated in the same catalog. The operating weight of 2372 kg is real for this particular car. |
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