Ci Munro to build prototype ambulances for St John

Media Release April 2011

Ci Munro to build prototype ambulances for St John

Tourism Holdings Ltd (thl) Ci Munro has been appointed by St John to design and develop a prototype for their next generation of emergency ambulances.

Ci Munro's specialist transport engineering arm, Action Motor Bodies (AMB), will carry out the turn key design and build while working closely with St John.

"The existing vehicle designs are over 20 years old and were in need of a complete revamp. Today's needs are a lot different than they were two decades ago so we decided to review our fleet to ensure we continue to provide the very best service to New Zealanders," says Jaimes Wood, St John Chief Executive.

In order to get a better understanding of what is required, the team at AMB spent time with the operational staff of St John putting together a new design.

"The final result will be a prototype vehicle with modern styling, the latest technology and a layout that enables staff the best utilisation of the up-to-the-minute equipment," says Grant Webster, CEO of thl.

Made up of the latest composite materials and manufactured using methods seen more often in aviation than transport, the most noticeable change will be the reduction to the overall operational weight of the vehicle.

Built for Kiwis by Kiwis, the new vehicle, based on a 318 Mercedes cab chassis will also have improvements made to emergency and internal lighting as well as layout of equipment including the placement of MDT's (Mobile Data Terminals) and radios.

"The team at AMB provided us with the very best in design and technology but more importantly they put a lot of care and thought into their plans and really took time to understand the inner workings of what we do here," says Jaimes Wood.

With its considerable experience in the transport engineering industry, AMB has risen to the challenge of designing and building such specialised units.

Designing the new ambulances has been completed with production of the prototypes beginning in this month. The first three frontline ambulances are due to be finished and trialled around the country before the end of June. This will allow any necessary changes before a final design.

Acceptance of the final design by St John may lead to a longer term partnership to build ambulances for the next five years.

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