Transit Van Ambulances
(1980-1987)
In
1980 St. John Ambulance purchased modified Ford Transits as ambulances. The Transit was equipped with a 4.1 litre cross flow six
cylinder engine and a three speed automatic transmission. With a roof mounted
high capacity air-conditioner and a side door in the patient compartment the
Transit was good vehicle to work out the back of. With a lack of power steering (a thirty-three
point turn in a tight space) and limited power in the hills, it wasn’t a great
one to drive, but it was OK in retrospect.
The original vehicles were modified in Victoria but proved inadequate,
as the electrical cabling in the patient compartment was poorly executed and
prone to overheating. Later vehicles
were modified more successfully by Les Brazier’s Javelin Auto
Body Works at Elizabeth.
Fleet 20, one of the original Transits with the larger of the roof
mounted air-conditioners. This picture
is from the 1982 Emergency Care and Transport Manual.
Most
of the Transits had been retired by 1987.
One of Kevin’s photos of Fleet 7 (registration number
UFE-258), taken around 1984, with the side door visible. A sliding step
appeared when the door was opened. This photo was taken at West Torrens St.John Centre Higher Res Images
Glen sparks says about this photo, “The transit being loaded shows Paul Whittenbury
(foot end) & Glen Sparks (Me!!) and the picture formed part of the front
page layout for the Adelaide Metro phone book. It was taken at
Another of Kevin’s photos of Fleet 7, these were the longer wheel-base
Transits with three side windows to the patient compartment. This
photo was also taken at
Fleet 8 with reflective tape showing.
This vehicle has narrow white sidewalls and all of the Ford Transits has
Sunraysia
style wheels (Kevin).
The driver’s
compartment of Fleet 8 again with the floor mounted AWA radio. It had six channel selection buttons. Two buttons could be pushed in together to
allow the monitoring of two channels (Kevin).
Higher Res Images
A Ford Transit with additional air-conditioner outlets mounted on the
dash. The hand for the T-bar auto is
just visible above the lip of the passenger seat (
Another of view of a Mark I Ford
Transit, possibly another view of Fleet 8 from the right hand side.
The Siren control unit, possibly a Heathkit,
is visible below the dash to the right of the steering columns. The wood-grain dashboard trim was a nice
British touch (Kevin). Higher Res Images
The patient compartment of Fleet 8. The
attendant’s chair could be swivelled around to the front. A clean and relatively uncluttered work
area. The Ferno-Washington stretcher was used on the F-100 Twin-Life
ambulances too. The stretcher lock was
before they were strengthened to retain the stretcher
in the event of a roll-over (Kevin). Higher Res Images
The
patient compartment of another transit, fleet number unknown. The older style air-conditioner is side
mounted, and blows across the cabin. The
compartment behind the Ferno-Washington stretcher is storage for the
The left
side patient compartment of the same unknown transit. The older style air-conditioner is clearly
visible and is the Ferno-Washington 107C chair stretcher that the attendant
would sit on to tend to the patient. The side mounted D sized oxygen cylinder
was designed to be removed by the driver along with the resuscitation kit when
backing up the attendant who had already exited the vehicle. The locker to the rear of the side door was
the main bandage and dressing storage area for use in the vehicle when
attending to patients. The lockers
behind the chair stretcher were used to store linen
(Kevin). Higher Res Images
The
patient compartment of a later type Ford Transit, (registration number SPL-131)
fleet number unknown, but possibly Fleet 38 below. The new style air-conditioning unit is
mounted centrally in the roof and uses direction able vents; also the locker
under the chair-stretcher is a lot neater finish. At this stage
St.John Ambulance had still not adopted the SJQ number plates (Kevin). Higher Res Images
Another of Kevin’s photos, this time Fleet 38
taken at dusk. This is a later style transit
configuration to the others as it is fitted with a noticeably smaller
air-conditioner on the roof, clearly it is not as high
nor does it protrude at the front and is without the white cross moulding at
the front of the air-conditioner’s grille (Kevin). Higher Res Images
A lovely
shot of Fleet 59 (Registration SPD-838) take in the driveway of what appears to
be Unley St.John Centre (photo supplied by Steven Schuler).
Another
fine shot of Fleet 59, clearly visible is the attendant side door with the
sliding side-step, white narrow wall tyres and roof-mounted rear spot-lamps,
again at Unley St.John Centre (photo supplied by Steven Schuler).
Fleet 89
at the Hindmarsh Ambulance Depot after an unfortunate crash. The photos demonstrate the structural
integrity of the factory-manufactured configuration of the Ford Transit Van
(photo courtesy of Lyndon A). Higher Res Images
This
crashed Transit (registration SPF-5888) was from Nangwarry and it sustained
damage by sliding into a tree. The driver sustained some injuries but nothing
too major (picture courtesy of Glen Sparks).
Another
photo of the crashed Transit from Nangwarry, the vehicle has the smaller style
roof mounted air-conditioner and roo-bar denoting a country vehicle (picture courtesy of Glen Sparks).
Another
view of fleet 89 at Hindmarsh Depot as above.
This particular vehicle flipped after being hit
by a car and slid for some distance hence the distortion of the driver’s side
of the van (photo courtesy of Lyndon A).
Higher Res Images
A
detailed view of a Ford Transit from an image on a first day cover. A St.John
Career staff officer wearing the then current blue uniform is
posed next to the vehicle (Registration UAC-169)
The first
day cover for the Centenary of St.John with the Ford Transit featured
Another view of Fleet 89 at the Hindmarsh Ambulance Depot after an
unfortunate crash (photo courtesy of Lyndon A).
And yet another
view of Fleet 89 at the Hindmarsh Ambulance Depot after an unfortunate crash
(photo courtesy of Lyndon A).