Combination car (ambulance)

Design features

Combination cars often include:

• Flashing lights (mounted or concealed) or a siren. Some cars used rotating roof beacons that could flash either yellow lights in processional mode, or both red and yellow lights in emergency response mode. Alternatively, a hole on the roof was often supplied where a beacon could be bolted on an intermittent basis, with a wire passing through to the driver's compartment where it could be plugged in when needed.
• Two-way radio
• Gurney (stretcher) or a casket. The presence of ambulance technology made combos useful in the first call role, as a gurney is also used in that function.
• Foldable seats on one side in the rear compartment where a first-aid person can sit while looking after a patient on their way to the hospital
• A cabinet where first-aid supplies can be stored

Decline

In the US, usage of passenger car or station wagon derived vehicles as ambulances began to decline in the early 1970s due to federal regulations and a major downsizing of the passenger cars that were used. The state of New York began in 1969 to require ambulances to carry certain equipment and to have trained personnel, limiting the use of combination cars. The use of combination cars became impractical in the US around 1979.

References

References

1. "Hearse Homecoming".
2. "Friends of the Professional Car Society – Official Website of the Professional Car Society, Inc.".
3. "The (new) Cadillac Database Professional Cars on Cadillac Chassis 1967–1969".
4. (18 September 2019). "Fifty years providing an essential service". The River Reporter.