2011 Medtec Ambulance problems

What is wrong

Medtec is recalling certain model year 2009-2011 Ambulances (Type I, Type I-AD, Type II, Type III, and Type III-AD) manufactured from January 2, 2009, through May 1, 2011. If an attendant lands on the bench top with great force, such as when the vehicle hits a bump in the road, the bench top screws may loosen and pull out.

Risk

If the bench top securing screws pull out then the bench top may drop into the cavity of the bench compartment, increasing the risk of personal injury.

Remedy

Medtec will notify owners, and dealers will repair the vehicles free of charge. The recall began on January 8, 2013. Owners may contact Medtec toll-free at 1‑866‑263‑3832.

Recall number 12V554000 · Recall details

On January 20th 2012 the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to assess and review a complaint (VOQ # 10424476) concerning a squad bench failure on a 2011 Medtec R152 Type 1 Ambulance emergency response vehicle.The VOQ, submitted by an emergency medical professional, indicated that he was injured due to a failure of the bench seat in the emergency cab while treating a patient en route to the hospital.The complainant was allegedly sitting on the squad seat bench located in the emergency cab when the vehicle drove over a bump causing the seat to separate from its hinged bracket.This failure caused the complainant to fall into the lower storage area, allegedly injuring his back in the process.An ODI investigator contacted the complainant and arranged for an inspection of similar vehicles to examine their squad bench seats.ODI also contacted the Vehicle Research Testing Center (VRTC) to conduct testing of the bench seat and its support hinge.However, Medtec initiated a safety recall before VRTC completed its testing program. On November 29th 2012, Medtec submitted a Part 573 defect notice indicating it would conduct a safety recall to install improved seat hinge hardware on the effected population.This investigation is closed.the federal safety agency will continue to monitor the recalled vehicles to ensure the remedy implemented by Medtec is adequate. The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.The ODI report cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/owners/Searchreference under the following identification (ODI) number: 10424476.

PE11041