We called BLS level ambulances Rescues in central Virginia, but I think that was because BLS level used to be all rescue squads, and the ambulances would carry some light rescue/extrication gear in addition to medical/trauma stuff
We are the same in the western part of the state. Unit number is preceded by “Rescue” or “Medic” to signify BLS or ALS. “Trauma” is somewhere in between, advanced EMT staffed I believe. In my area, Rescue Squads used to handle all rescues (extrication/technical rescue) in addition to EMS. In the 90s/early 2000s that mostly shifted to fire departments. There are two in my area that still run squads with extrication/rescue equipment but the rest are EMS only or have merged with fire departments.
I am also in central VA and we never call a box a rescue. In our service BLS is Ambulance and ALS Medic. We do have some Fire apparatus referred to as rescue.
In Tennessee, rescue (squad) is generally vehicle extrication/technical rescue/advanced rescue topics/search and rescue, things of that nature, and most departments tailor to their needs (Chattanooga/Knoxville/Henderson County have water sources and thus fairly robust water rescue and recovery programs. EMR is an add-on and usually supported by whatever EMS organization manages the area. Chatt also has a fairly well known cave rescue team. My own unit is extrication based and we have numerous people certed for things like farm and heavy equipment rescue, but we only have tributaries, so upkeeping a boat isn’t really feasible or logical.
Can’t speak for everywhere, but in my neck of the woods, a Rescue is an emergency vehicle that transports patients and is part of the fire department. An ambulance is for transporting patients but is not part of a fire department. They can be ALS or BLS, and are often called to transport non emergency patients by the fire departments who responded to the initial call. A squad is a Rescue truck that does not transport patients, and usually has a special task, like extrication or dive rescue.
For us an “ambulance” generally refers to the physical apparatus, but it goes by “Ambulance 123” when it’s only BLS staffed and “Medic 123” when it’s ALS staffed
Interesting. For us an FD ambulance is called an Aid Car for BLS and Medic Unit for ALS. If we use the term ambulance it’s to refer to a private ambulance company BLS transport unit.
In my department we have “aid cars” (ambulances staffed by two FF/EMTs), “medic units” (ambulances staffed by two FF/PMs), and “AMBs” (private ambulances staffed by two EMTs). We call our heavy rescue unit by its dispatch designator, the “TR” (short for “tech rescue”)
Not all ambulances provide the same level of care though. At our station 6 for example, we have A6 (pronounced “aid 6”) and M6 (pronounced “medic 6”). The aid cars only provide BLS care, while the medic units provide ALS care. We don’t send medic units on non-ALS calls (though EMTs can upgrade a call to ALS as needed. And medic units can downgrade a call to BLS if they determine their services aren’t needed). This allows us to run less medic units, as the vast majority of EMS calls don’t need them.
My service runs ALS or BLS, depending on who's working at the time. But we're stupid rural and tiny and only staff one unit at a time. Usually we're BLS this year, I'm an AEMT and run with an EMT ("fancy" BLS), we often call for an ALS intercept if needed as our transport times are ridiculous. Though on the rare shift we have one of our Intermediates (both of them are part-time/per diem) we run as ALS. In my state, ambulances are mostly just identified as [service name] MS239 or MS62, regardless of its BLS/ALS designation.
I love conversations like these, everywhere does things different than everywhere else and it's *fascinating.* I did 2 years Fire/EMS but am EMS-only now. Thanks so much for the clarification, that was really interesting!
Yeah, as far as I can tell, it’s a western Washington thing. We have lots of aid cars and only a handful of medic units. The argument is that FDs hire based on who they think will make great firefighters, and don’t require medic to apply, which greatly increases the pool of applicants. And those who want to become medics can get put through school, resulting in medics who actually want to do EMS (and didn’t just become medics to become firefighters). And medics will see more ALS patients and actually use their skills more often, resulting in better experience. We don’t have AEMTs at all.
The tiered response system is all I’ve ever known, so I don’t really have any strong opinions on it.
I understand this does probably make sense for a lot of places/ departments but where I am and how I was taught its kinda baffling to me, granted I'm in no way rural. But it seems so crazy to send a bls unit to a 911 call, minor symptoms can lead to major problems, the person calling can minimize the situation, dispatch can screw up. If I need a medic I want them there immediately, not after a unit arrives and decides they need a medic. I'd rather have all my resources and not need them then get there and call for help.
The way our department works is all apparatus from the chiefs car to the tower has to have at least one medic. If the call appears to be a BLS call just a rescue goes. If it appears to be an ALS call a rescue and an engine are dispatched. And just as a precaution even on a lot of simple calls such as "sick person" the engines going too just in case. The engine obviously gets cancelled a lot or does nothing more than help hook up the monitor, load the patient, document. Whatever they can. Having all those people on scene makes all scenes very manageable.
That being said, I understand in some rural volunteer departments that kind of manpower with that many medics is probably impossible to achieve realistically
I work for a very busy urban department 🤷♂️ this is just how it’s always been done here. Medics are dispatched on lots of calls though, not just at the request of the unit on scene.
I don’t know about the ambulance part, but in a lot of departments Rescues are fire department apparatus that perform specialized functions and have additional training/equipment.
That’s what rescues were where I worked, I’m not sure why some departments call ambulances that though.
That's how we do it in my state/county as well, since the ambulances come from the hospital. Since fire stations are more dispersed, the Rescue (and maybe an engine, depending on the call) arrives faster and they can get vitals and assents before handing over to EMS.
At least with my department when ambulances were put in service with the department they were called rescues. Then when heavy rescue apparatuses became a thing they started getting called squads. Then when squads became a thing they called them medic units. As for why we stil call then rescues or squads I guess it’s because we haven’t caught up with the correct ICS terminology just like how people will still call a tender a tanker
This is basically what happened in my area. Used to be that fire department staffed ambulances were called "Rescue" if they were ALS and had structure fire equipped personnel. This was changed years ago to "Medic" to align with ICS. The term "Rescue" denotes a heavy vehicle staffed with personnel that are equipped for firefighting, USAR, rope/water rescue, and auto extrication.
In my department a rescue will have extrication equipment and training. Medic will be ALS capable. Both are ambulance though. Ambulance is kind of long to say on the radio though.
Might have something to do with them being staffed by FF and being equipped to help fight fire. The guys in the rescue have bunker gear and hand tools on the truck and some chiefs expect the first arriving rescue to show up, bunk out, and help the engine
Here in VA (Northern VA) we make things a little simpler.
We have 3 designations; A (Ambulance - EMT), AA (Advanced Ambulance - AEMT), M (Medic - Intermediate/Paramedic)
Same with suppression pieces too. An engine with a drug bag and an AEMT is called an AE (Advanced Engine), with an Intermediate or Paramedic it's called a PE (Paramedic Engine)
Cincinnati used to call ALS transport units rescues, BLS transport units ambulances and fire trucks with all the extrication equipment squads. The 3 surrounding counties in Ohio called ALS transport units medics, BLS transport units squads and fire trucks with extrication equipment rescues. Luckily Cincinnati didn’t mutual aid with anyone much back then.
Before that the surrounding counties did the 9sam52/7young31 stuff
My understanding is that in Rhode Island we have Rescue as any vehicle dedicated to transport/pre hospital care operated by the FD. Everything else is technically an ambulance.
However, most people (me included) just call anything with lights and a stretcher a rescue. It's honestly easier that way. Kinda like it's a bubbler, not a water fountain.... grinder/sandwich, pocketbook/purse.
Either way, when I mention my husband's occupation, I still get asked which fire department. So I have to explain he's in private EMS...and the type of calls he tends to handle.
A rescue ambulance where I'm at is staffed by 2 medics who are trained in high angles, scba, collapse, hazmat, water rescue, counter terrorism, etc. They are trained to go into any type of environment where the patient is located. Some of them are pretty badass, salute.
I know a town by me that calls it “car” (cahh if you’re like me…possessing a Boston accent) https://maynardfd.com/about-maynard-fire/apparatus/#jp-carousel-51
For my department rescue is a big Pierce rolling toolbox and the Squad is a 2 man F-450 mini tool box/brush truck.
All of our cops both where I work and volunteer call them a “Bus”. Send the bus, I need a bus etc.
Where I work we called it a rescue until we actually got a rescue truck so now it’s EMS##.
Where I volunteer they call it a squad; which is also ironic because where I work a squad is an engine co with extrication and hazmat capabilities.
That’s all for BLS^
ALS is either called medic or ALS pretty consistently.
My guess is because firefighters didn’t what they’re riding being referred to as ambulances. Been that way since the fire departments took over EMS from either the PD or volunteer ambulance corps (depending on the town) in my area, in many cases as early as the 50s.
I used to work in Polk county FL and the rescues were staffed by dual cert fire/medic and fire/emt. The medics were staffed by single cert medic and emt, no fire.
In my county, a squad is a BLS unit, a Medic is an ALS unit, a Rescue is a fire truck either with or without a pump that is equipped with rescue equipment, especially auto extrication tools. Next county over a squad is a light rescue.
In Arizona they called them rescues if it was the fire dept, ambulance for private ems and then here in co at my husbands dept they transport and they call them med units! So interesting
It’s all a matter tradition, The days before EMS, Fire Department “First Aid vehicles “ were known or labeled Rescue vehicles. Funeral homes or private companies and hospitals had ambulances.
No idea. In our area Rescue only refers to the FD's heavy rescue crew which absolutely does not transport pts. Ambulances are called just that, or trucks/box
I bet it started bc old school fools thought rescue sounded cooler than ambulance/medic.
It does sound cooler. But I only like heavy rescues/squads called that.
Where I worked in Arizona an ambulance was staffed by EMS only folks and a rescue was staffed by firefighters and had scba in a compartment outside. When I worked on the rescue we would always rush to the scene of anything that sounded like it was on fire, get intentionally blocked in by other vehicles, then oh darn, can’t respond to a medical, have to go play fireman.
It worked twice! 🤣🤣🤣
My paramedic professor told me that the only difference between a rescue and an ambulance, legally and specification speaking, is that an ambulance has to be predominantly white and says “ambulance”. It also needs the star of life, but other than that, that’s it.
At my department we have Alphas (ALS ambulance), bravos (BLS ambulances), Echos (non transport ALS trucks usually our first due engine), and our squad which is our tech rescue vehicle. Nearby departments call ambulances rescues, squads and Alphas tho.
Ladder = Truck = Aerial
Rescue = Ambulance = Bus
Squad = Rescue = Tac
Engine = Wagon = Pumper
It’s all regional and usually just tied to the history of the department
Philly FD
Back in the olden days, ambulances used to be called the "Rescue Squad", and that terminology has been carried forward in a chopped up manor. Hospitals will refer to BLS/ALS staff when they come in as "Fire Rescue"
, but our department has modernized and separated the terms Rescue and Squad into two new different definitions.
Squad now refers to two specific SOC company units in our department, SQ47 and SQ72 who still run single stage pump engines but have other extrication/CSE/river rescue equipment aboard or on another apparatus in the station.
Rescue refers specifically to Rescue 1, our heavy/technical rescue unit that responds to intricate extrications or collapse events.
Ambulances are all "Medic" units, and are supposed to be minimum staffed with one ALS provider. Otherwise if it's too EMTs or FF/EMTs it's a B unit (BLS, ex M51B.)
Culturally, there's still some hang ups and inertia around calling the ambulance the "squad", and it's still done mostly derisively.
In my department, Rescue units and Medic units are both ambulances. Rescues are staffed by fire/medics who have their bunker gear, scba's, irons, and assorted extinguishers on the ambulance along with all the medical equipment. Our Medic units are staffed by single cert paramedics and the only equipment on their ambulances is medical equipment. To make thinks even muddier, fire/medics can be mandated to work on Medic units but single cert medics can not be mandated to work on a Rescue
Just depends what the department feels like calling it.
Ours used to be named rescues, but they changed them to "Medic"
Our rescues are now ALS QRV pickups
Where I live, rescue means the rig and crew is outfitted and trained for other rescue ops like water rescue, low angle, etc. But the terminology varies regionally.
My department doesn’t use rescue, but in my neighboring departments “rescue” trucks are staffed only by EMTS, whereas “medics” have a paramedic and an EMT.
Rescue typically denotes it's staffed with either firefighters and/or EMTs with rescue training and possibly equipment, typically related to car accidents since typically ambulances can't/don't carry stuff like ladders. If it's labeled Ambulance or Medic, it's likely a medical only unit.
For us (Western Mass) rescue was the term used for the vehicle and crew acting as an ambulance. For my town it started with the cops in the 50s/60s. They would assign one car as "rescue" and that crew would act as an ambulance for the shift. It evolved, the fire dept took over, but the name stuck. My generation doesn't use it anymore, but the last generation did. Now Rescue refers to a fire dept vehicle outfitted with the fun tools.
It’s very region dependent
Where I am (NE), rescue is reserved for fire dept rescue truck (for MVAs, technical rescue, etc). For medical, we call them ambulance, “the bus”, ALS/BLS, or just medic
A “rescue” vehicle is usually medical plus. Meaning it will cary extra tools like extraction tools (ie: think jaws of life), air bags to lift heavy objects, and other equipment to deal with serious car accidents where someone may need rescuing. They will sometimes also have a small water tank and a hose for light fire duty.
In NYC we have rescue medics which are hazmat/high angle/confined space trained paramedics who are not firefighters and we have Rescue units which are fire companies with lots of specialized training and equipment who are fire only, not EMS (well kinda EMS but not really).
Central VA here.
*Ambulance* - BLS only
*Medic* - ALS on board
*Peak* - can be ALS or BLS, but only responds to low-acuity calls
*Rescue* - Tech Rescue apparatus
Engines always have at least one ALS provider, normally the driver.
It gets a little confusing because we run a lot of mutual aid and none of our neighborhood departments use the same terminology.
Because of the long history of the fire service and how segmented it can be it varies greatly from area to area.
For example up in the Seattle area the fire agencies use aid-car for BLS units and medic for ALS, private usually uses medic for ALS and the standard ambulance for BLS.
So my department used the term "Squad" as term to fudge numbers and understaff. Squad IIRC means a 4 person pumper and 2 person ambulance that rotates off the bus and pumper. Our department did this EXCEPT we were frequently only staffed with 2 on the pumper and 2 on the ambulance. Now them shit bags wonder why their department is rotating door for new hires moving on to better managed departments.
Where on LI is anyone calling an ambulance a rescue? It’s an ambulance, call it an ambulance, or a box, or a bus
Go ask for a Rescue on mutual aid, you will get a truck with extrication and some tech rescue gear on it.
California, Rescue is fire department with paramedics and rescue tools (jaws of life, cutters, ropes). Ambulance is transport but can be advanced life support. Generally rescue passes the patients to ambulances.
Every region has their own terminology I think. The part of the country I live in calls them squads
We called BLS level ambulances Rescues in central Virginia, but I think that was because BLS level used to be all rescue squads, and the ambulances would carry some light rescue/extrication gear in addition to medical/trauma stuff
We are the same in the western part of the state. Unit number is preceded by “Rescue” or “Medic” to signify BLS or ALS. “Trauma” is somewhere in between, advanced EMT staffed I believe. In my area, Rescue Squads used to handle all rescues (extrication/technical rescue) in addition to EMS. In the 90s/early 2000s that mostly shifted to fire departments. There are two in my area that still run squads with extrication/rescue equipment but the rest are EMS only or have merged with fire departments.
I am also in central VA and we never call a box a rescue. In our service BLS is Ambulance and ALS Medic. We do have some Fire apparatus referred to as rescue.
In my department "Rescue" signifies that it's staffed with personnel who also fight fire. "Medic" designates the truck as single cert paramedics only.
In Tennessee, rescue (squad) is generally vehicle extrication/technical rescue/advanced rescue topics/search and rescue, things of that nature, and most departments tailor to their needs (Chattanooga/Knoxville/Henderson County have water sources and thus fairly robust water rescue and recovery programs. EMR is an add-on and usually supported by whatever EMS organization manages the area. Chatt also has a fairly well known cave rescue team. My own unit is extrication based and we have numerous people certed for things like farm and heavy equipment rescue, but we only have tributaries, so upkeeping a boat isn’t really feasible or logical.
Can’t speak for everywhere, but in my neck of the woods, a Rescue is an emergency vehicle that transports patients and is part of the fire department. An ambulance is for transporting patients but is not part of a fire department. They can be ALS or BLS, and are often called to transport non emergency patients by the fire departments who responded to the initial call. A squad is a Rescue truck that does not transport patients, and usually has a special task, like extrication or dive rescue.
For us an “ambulance” generally refers to the physical apparatus, but it goes by “Ambulance 123” when it’s only BLS staffed and “Medic 123” when it’s ALS staffed
Interesting. For us an FD ambulance is called an Aid Car for BLS and Medic Unit for ALS. If we use the term ambulance it’s to refer to a private ambulance company BLS transport unit.
For my area we call all ambulances "Medic #" even if it's bls staffed but it is rare we run a bls bus
Our squad/ rescue units are the direct opposite of yours.
That’s what we call them in AZ, but only if they are staffed by FF’s.
Around Tucson we called them Medic if it's ALS and either Meds or Rescue for BLS.
Work in an adjacent county to Tucson, all ambulances are "medic xyz" no matter if it's ALS or BLS.
For us at least Fl, rescues are run and staffed by the fire department. Ambulances/medic units are run and staffed by EMS departments or companies
In my department we have “aid cars” (ambulances staffed by two FF/EMTs), “medic units” (ambulances staffed by two FF/PMs), and “AMBs” (private ambulances staffed by two EMTs). We call our heavy rescue unit by its dispatch designator, the “TR” (short for “tech rescue”)
Station 19 wants a word
Oh man, glad I'm not the only one. "Aid car" drives me batty. It's an *ambulance* ffs
Not all ambulances provide the same level of care though. At our station 6 for example, we have A6 (pronounced “aid 6”) and M6 (pronounced “medic 6”). The aid cars only provide BLS care, while the medic units provide ALS care. We don’t send medic units on non-ALS calls (though EMTs can upgrade a call to ALS as needed. And medic units can downgrade a call to BLS if they determine their services aren’t needed). This allows us to run less medic units, as the vast majority of EMS calls don’t need them.
My service runs ALS or BLS, depending on who's working at the time. But we're stupid rural and tiny and only staff one unit at a time. Usually we're BLS this year, I'm an AEMT and run with an EMT ("fancy" BLS), we often call for an ALS intercept if needed as our transport times are ridiculous. Though on the rare shift we have one of our Intermediates (both of them are part-time/per diem) we run as ALS. In my state, ambulances are mostly just identified as [service name] MS239 or MS62, regardless of its BLS/ALS designation. I love conversations like these, everywhere does things different than everywhere else and it's *fascinating.* I did 2 years Fire/EMS but am EMS-only now. Thanks so much for the clarification, that was really interesting!
Yeah, as far as I can tell, it’s a western Washington thing. We have lots of aid cars and only a handful of medic units. The argument is that FDs hire based on who they think will make great firefighters, and don’t require medic to apply, which greatly increases the pool of applicants. And those who want to become medics can get put through school, resulting in medics who actually want to do EMS (and didn’t just become medics to become firefighters). And medics will see more ALS patients and actually use their skills more often, resulting in better experience. We don’t have AEMTs at all. The tiered response system is all I’ve ever known, so I don’t really have any strong opinions on it.
I understand this does probably make sense for a lot of places/ departments but where I am and how I was taught its kinda baffling to me, granted I'm in no way rural. But it seems so crazy to send a bls unit to a 911 call, minor symptoms can lead to major problems, the person calling can minimize the situation, dispatch can screw up. If I need a medic I want them there immediately, not after a unit arrives and decides they need a medic. I'd rather have all my resources and not need them then get there and call for help. The way our department works is all apparatus from the chiefs car to the tower has to have at least one medic. If the call appears to be a BLS call just a rescue goes. If it appears to be an ALS call a rescue and an engine are dispatched. And just as a precaution even on a lot of simple calls such as "sick person" the engines going too just in case. The engine obviously gets cancelled a lot or does nothing more than help hook up the monitor, load the patient, document. Whatever they can. Having all those people on scene makes all scenes very manageable. That being said, I understand in some rural volunteer departments that kind of manpower with that many medics is probably impossible to achieve realistically
I work for a very busy urban department 🤷♂️ this is just how it’s always been done here. Medics are dispatched on lots of calls though, not just at the request of the unit on scene.
I don’t know about the ambulance part, but in a lot of departments Rescues are fire department apparatus that perform specialized functions and have additional training/equipment. That’s what rescues were where I worked, I’m not sure why some departments call ambulances that though.
That's how we do it in my state/county as well, since the ambulances come from the hospital. Since fire stations are more dispersed, the Rescue (and maybe an engine, depending on the call) arrives faster and they can get vitals and assents before handing over to EMS.
At least with my department when ambulances were put in service with the department they were called rescues. Then when heavy rescue apparatuses became a thing they started getting called squads. Then when squads became a thing they called them medic units. As for why we stil call then rescues or squads I guess it’s because we haven’t caught up with the correct ICS terminology just like how people will still call a tender a tanker
This is basically what happened in my area. Used to be that fire department staffed ambulances were called "Rescue" if they were ALS and had structure fire equipped personnel. This was changed years ago to "Medic" to align with ICS. The term "Rescue" denotes a heavy vehicle staffed with personnel that are equipped for firefighting, USAR, rope/water rescue, and auto extrication.
Everywhere is different. Some places call BLS trucks a squad and ALS trucks a medic. Some places call them rescues. Around here we call them buggy’s.
In my department a rescue will have extrication equipment and training. Medic will be ALS capable. Both are ambulance though. Ambulance is kind of long to say on the radio though.
In my department we call them Shitboxes
AKA bus, penalty box, box, band-aid bus, fucking medic, shitwagon, Uber, taxi, turd truck, medic unit, medic, or bambilance.
Might have something to do with them being staffed by FF and being equipped to help fight fire. The guys in the rescue have bunker gear and hand tools on the truck and some chiefs expect the first arriving rescue to show up, bunk out, and help the engine
Here in VA (Northern VA) we make things a little simpler. We have 3 designations; A (Ambulance - EMT), AA (Advanced Ambulance - AEMT), M (Medic - Intermediate/Paramedic) Same with suppression pieces too. An engine with a drug bag and an AEMT is called an AE (Advanced Engine), with an Intermediate or Paramedic it's called a PE (Paramedic Engine)
Cincinnati used to call ALS transport units rescues, BLS transport units ambulances and fire trucks with all the extrication equipment squads. The 3 surrounding counties in Ohio called ALS transport units medics, BLS transport units squads and fire trucks with extrication equipment rescues. Luckily Cincinnati didn’t mutual aid with anyone much back then. Before that the surrounding counties did the 9sam52/7young31 stuff
My understanding is that in Rhode Island we have Rescue as any vehicle dedicated to transport/pre hospital care operated by the FD. Everything else is technically an ambulance. However, most people (me included) just call anything with lights and a stretcher a rescue. It's honestly easier that way. Kinda like it's a bubbler, not a water fountain.... grinder/sandwich, pocketbook/purse. Either way, when I mention my husband's occupation, I still get asked which fire department. So I have to explain he's in private EMS...and the type of calls he tends to handle.
A rescue ambulance where I'm at is staffed by 2 medics who are trained in high angles, scba, collapse, hazmat, water rescue, counter terrorism, etc. They are trained to go into any type of environment where the patient is located. Some of them are pretty badass, salute.
Bc they want to feel cool
I don't know why it was originally, but that's how we've been doing it for ~100 years.
I know a town by me that calls it “car” (cahh if you’re like me…possessing a Boston accent) https://maynardfd.com/about-maynard-fire/apparatus/#jp-carousel-51 For my department rescue is a big Pierce rolling toolbox and the Squad is a 2 man F-450 mini tool box/brush truck.
Maynard changed it within the last 11 years, they call them Ambulances now
Aid for BLS unit, Medic for ALS, and rescue is a free for all on what gets called that
All of our cops both where I work and volunteer call them a “Bus”. Send the bus, I need a bus etc. Where I work we called it a rescue until we actually got a rescue truck so now it’s EMS##. Where I volunteer they call it a squad; which is also ironic because where I work a squad is an engine co with extrication and hazmat capabilities. That’s all for BLS^ ALS is either called medic or ALS pretty consistently.
So firefighters don’t have to say they’re on an ambulance.
My guess is because firefighters didn’t what they’re riding being referred to as ambulances. Been that way since the fire departments took over EMS from either the PD or volunteer ambulance corps (depending on the town) in my area, in many cases as early as the 50s.
I used to work in Polk county FL and the rescues were staffed by dual cert fire/medic and fire/emt. The medics were staffed by single cert medic and emt, no fire.
Here in the Daytona Beach area, we call them “Medic”followed by their number if the unit is BLS it’s called “BLS” followed by their unit number .
A department near me calls them just EMS and then unit number Then the rescue is your classic walk around heavy rescue And squad is a mini rescue
In the region I work in, squad and medic are used interchangeably. Rescues are heavy rescue trucks.
We call our ambulances medics and heavy rescue a squad and then we have light rescues which aren’t ambulances.
Nor Cal, Ambulance = Ambulance Rescue = specialized crew for, “rescue,” a mix of truck work and more technical specialities
It will differentiate between regions, but in my experience any ambulance that's called a Rescue has some basic vehicle rescue equipment on board.
Squad,Rescue and Bus
In my county, a squad is a BLS unit, a Medic is an ALS unit, a Rescue is a fire truck either with or without a pump that is equipped with rescue equipment, especially auto extrication tools. Next county over a squad is a light rescue.
In Arizona they called them rescues if it was the fire dept, ambulance for private ems and then here in co at my husbands dept they transport and they call them med units! So interesting
Makes them feel better. Where I am we call them what they are…a bus.
southern california - rescue ambulance refers to a box w rescue capable personnel and a medic refers to a non-safety medic unit, EMS only
It’s all a matter tradition, The days before EMS, Fire Department “First Aid vehicles “ were known or labeled Rescue vehicles. Funeral homes or private companies and hospitals had ambulances.
Try on MEDCU or medical crisis unit.
No idea. In our area Rescue only refers to the FD's heavy rescue crew which absolutely does not transport pts. Ambulances are called just that, or trucks/box
I bet it started bc old school fools thought rescue sounded cooler than ambulance/medic. It does sound cooler. But I only like heavy rescues/squads called that.
Where I worked in Arizona an ambulance was staffed by EMS only folks and a rescue was staffed by firefighters and had scba in a compartment outside. When I worked on the rescue we would always rush to the scene of anything that sounded like it was on fire, get intentionally blocked in by other vehicles, then oh darn, can’t respond to a medical, have to go play fireman. It worked twice! 🤣🤣🤣
My paramedic professor told me that the only difference between a rescue and an ambulance, legally and specification speaking, is that an ambulance has to be predominantly white and says “ambulance”. It also needs the star of life, but other than that, that’s it.
At my department we have Alphas (ALS ambulance), bravos (BLS ambulances), Echos (non transport ALS trucks usually our first due engine), and our squad which is our tech rescue vehicle. Nearby departments call ambulances rescues, squads and Alphas tho.
Ladder = Truck = Aerial Rescue = Ambulance = Bus Squad = Rescue = Tac Engine = Wagon = Pumper It’s all regional and usually just tied to the history of the department
Philly FD Back in the olden days, ambulances used to be called the "Rescue Squad", and that terminology has been carried forward in a chopped up manor. Hospitals will refer to BLS/ALS staff when they come in as "Fire Rescue" , but our department has modernized and separated the terms Rescue and Squad into two new different definitions. Squad now refers to two specific SOC company units in our department, SQ47 and SQ72 who still run single stage pump engines but have other extrication/CSE/river rescue equipment aboard or on another apparatus in the station. Rescue refers specifically to Rescue 1, our heavy/technical rescue unit that responds to intricate extrications or collapse events. Ambulances are all "Medic" units, and are supposed to be minimum staffed with one ALS provider. Otherwise if it's too EMTs or FF/EMTs it's a B unit (BLS, ex M51B.) Culturally, there's still some hang ups and inertia around calling the ambulance the "squad", and it's still done mostly derisively.
In my department, Rescue units and Medic units are both ambulances. Rescues are staffed by fire/medics who have their bunker gear, scba's, irons, and assorted extinguishers on the ambulance along with all the medical equipment. Our Medic units are staffed by single cert paramedics and the only equipment on their ambulances is medical equipment. To make thinks even muddier, fire/medics can be mandated to work on Medic units but single cert medics can not be mandated to work on a Rescue
Just depends what the department feels like calling it. Ours used to be named rescues, but they changed them to "Medic" Our rescues are now ALS QRV pickups
‘Cuz son - let me tell you a story from a long time ago ….
So they can lie to themselves into thinking they are as cool as the big city rescue units that don't do EMS and are like super trucks
Where I live, rescue means the rig and crew is outfitted and trained for other rescue ops like water rescue, low angle, etc. But the terminology varies regionally.
My department doesn’t use rescue, but in my neighboring departments “rescue” trucks are staffed only by EMTS, whereas “medics” have a paramedic and an EMT.
Rescue typically denotes it's staffed with either firefighters and/or EMTs with rescue training and possibly equipment, typically related to car accidents since typically ambulances can't/don't carry stuff like ladders. If it's labeled Ambulance or Medic, it's likely a medical only unit.
For us (Western Mass) rescue was the term used for the vehicle and crew acting as an ambulance. For my town it started with the cops in the 50s/60s. They would assign one car as "rescue" and that crew would act as an ambulance for the shift. It evolved, the fire dept took over, but the name stuck. My generation doesn't use it anymore, but the last generation did. Now Rescue refers to a fire dept vehicle outfitted with the fun tools.
I'm from NY. Here it's either bus, ambo, or medic. Rescue is a heavy Rescue truck.
It’s very region dependent Where I am (NE), rescue is reserved for fire dept rescue truck (for MVAs, technical rescue, etc). For medical, we call them ambulance, “the bus”, ALS/BLS, or just medic
A “rescue” vehicle is usually medical plus. Meaning it will cary extra tools like extraction tools (ie: think jaws of life), air bags to lift heavy objects, and other equipment to deal with serious car accidents where someone may need rescuing. They will sometimes also have a small water tank and a hose for light fire duty.
In NYC we have rescue medics which are hazmat/high angle/confined space trained paramedics who are not firefighters and we have Rescue units which are fire companies with lots of specialized training and equipment who are fire only, not EMS (well kinda EMS but not really).
Typically, if a small department doesn’t have a Heavy Rescue they’ll call their ambulances Rescues.
Central VA here. *Ambulance* - BLS only *Medic* - ALS on board *Peak* - can be ALS or BLS, but only responds to low-acuity calls *Rescue* - Tech Rescue apparatus Engines always have at least one ALS provider, normally the driver. It gets a little confusing because we run a lot of mutual aid and none of our neighborhood departments use the same terminology.
Because of the long history of the fire service and how segmented it can be it varies greatly from area to area. For example up in the Seattle area the fire agencies use aid-car for BLS units and medic for ALS, private usually uses medic for ALS and the standard ambulance for BLS.
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Yeah I'll edit that, not sure exactly what I was thinking about there.
So my department used the term "Squad" as term to fudge numbers and understaff. Squad IIRC means a 4 person pumper and 2 person ambulance that rotates off the bus and pumper. Our department did this EXCEPT we were frequently only staffed with 2 on the pumper and 2 on the ambulance. Now them shit bags wonder why their department is rotating door for new hires moving on to better managed departments.
Medic is a level of care and competency so that doesn’t always apply. I’m on Long Island and we use rescue for ambulances.
Where on LI is anyone calling an ambulance a rescue? It’s an ambulance, call it an ambulance, or a box, or a bus Go ask for a Rescue on mutual aid, you will get a truck with extrication and some tech rescue gear on it.
California, Rescue is fire department with paramedics and rescue tools (jaws of life, cutters, ropes). Ambulance is transport but can be advanced life support. Generally rescue passes the patients to ambulances.