Survey Report for Ambulance Patient Compartment Design

Published

January 22, 2013

Author(s)

Allison Barnard Feeney, Deogratias Kibira, Yung-Tsun T. Lee, Jennifer L. Marshall

Abstract

NIST conducted a survey (Office of Management and Budget, Control No. 1090-0007) of the emergency medical services (EMS) professionals in December 2011. The objective of the survey is to aid in the development of design standards for the patient compartment in ambulances and to measure customer satisfaction with current design standards. A total of 2,537 responses were collected and provided insight into their work environment such as seating, occupancy, ergonomics, restraint systems, communications. The survey also provides information regarding their ability to perform in the patient compartment of ambulances such as the reach and usage of equipment and supplies. This report summarizes the quantifiable data collected from the survey responses. The survey supports a larger effort that is addressing performance and safety issues associated with the design of emergency medical services (EMS) vehicles, including the development of standards for the design of patient compartments in ambulances.

Citation

Technical Note (NIST TN) - 1772

Report Number

1772

NIST Pub Series

Technical Note (NIST TN)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

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DOI Link

Keywords

ambulance, standard, EMS, EMT, seating, patient compartment, ergonomics, safety, Box I and III, restraint systems, ASCI, CPR seat

Citation

Barnard, A. , Kibira, D. , Lee, Y. and Marshall, J. (2013), Survey Report for Ambulance Patient Compartment Design, Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1772 (Accessed October 14, 2025)