Assorted ambulances from BC

Here are some other assorted ambulances (if you can call some of them that) that served in British Columbia. Vans were very popular.

#1 - 1973 Ford Econoline - Port Hardy, BC - very clear who sponsored the ambulance service in Port Hardy

#2 - 1970 Ford Econoline - Port Alberni, BC - of nterest is the Mercedes ambulance in the background. Fraser Field now owns this ambulance and is restoring it.

#3 - 1973 Ford Econoline - North Thompson Valley (Clearwater, BC) - color didn't matter if you found the right van.

#4 - 1973 GMC - Sicamous, BC - community service club sponsored

#5 - Unknown BC location - storage was sometimes whatever could be found cheaply

A few more from BC

#1 - Central Kootenay, BC - read fast as it goes by with lights and siren

#2 - 3 assorted ambulances - when the BC Ambulance Service was created the government was not sure what kind of ambulance they wanted. To this end, they went out and purchased 2 types of each ambulance from each major manufacturer in north america. The Horton mod on the right came from the south apparently...great a/c but no heat in the rear compartment (was later retro'd with a rear heater)

#3 - First attempt by the Metropolitan Ambulance Service of Vancouver to consider a van. Apparently this is equipped with a front- wheel drive?

#4 - Basic...and I mean basic...transport (poor thing)

#5 - Mayne Island, BC

Mercedes

Bill: Mercedes was not a common pro car seen in North America. Any idea how this came to be used in BC?

Hi Tim...I've asked Fraser for some background on the Mercedes. I recall some mention in a previous post (or maybe I'm confused) about another Mercedes trialled in BC. I'll do some digging and get back to you.

The major ambulance supplier of the time was Sorensen Distributors in Red Deer, Alta. but they also had a distributor in Burnaby BC. Most of their product though was Superior. Maybe something they tried as an option?

I'm not aware of who was the MM distributor.

Bill

The pictures beautifully show that in the pre public owned era (at least in Canada) there was little money in the ambulance business. Many providers relied on locally produced vehicles to make up their fleet.