special Delivery Alan M. Petrillo
The Princeton (NJ) First Aid & Rescue Squad wanted a custom ambulance that it could station at Princeton University during the school year and turned to PL Custom Emergency Vehicles to build the rig.
Frank Setnicky, director of the Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad, says the Squad provides ambulance and rescue services to the 18 square miles of the borough of Princeton with a population of about 30,000 residents that doubles when Princeton University is in session. “We wanted a pretty straightforward ambulance without a lot of bells and whistles but with some customized design features,” Setnicky says. “This new rig was going to be stationed on the Princeton University campus during school classes.”
1 The Princeton (NJ) First Aid & Rescue Squad went to PL Custom Emergency Vehicles for a new custom ambulance on a 2017 Ford E-450 chassis with an all-aluminum modular body. (Photos courtesy of PL Custom Emergency Vehicles.)
Chad Newsome, national sales manager for P.L. Custom Body and Equipment Co., Inc., parent company of PL Custom Emergency Vehicles, says Princeton had taken the design of its then current ambulances and worked with him to develop the design it wanted on a new rig. “It went through a request for proposal (RFP) process and solicited information from several vendors,” Newsome points out. “Then Princeton whittled the proposals down to its most recent vehicle provider and us. We got the contract.”
Custom Configurations
Newsome notes that PL Custom installed a combination 12-volt/110-volt heating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system in the Princeton ambulance because the rig would be stored outside at Princeton University during the school year and would need to be plugged into shore power when on site. PL Custom installed dual shore lines on the ambulance, one each side—the first for standard charging and the other for charging the HVAC system.
2 The PL Custom ambulance for Princeton has all Whelen LED warning, scene, compartment, interior, and underbody lighting along with a Whelen Howler siren.
“The Princeton Squad also wanted a custom configuration on the body itself,” Newsome says. “Of the five exterior storage compartments, only one of them was a standard compartment. The driver’s side rear compartment was ¾ high with double doors, and the passenger side forward was a full-height compartment.”
Custom features also include pushbutt