Equipment Pics

If anyone has photos of period correct equipment for a 1964 Combination would you post them here please? Specifically first aid kits, O2 and related supplies, etc.
Thanks.

Bruce
 
That's always one thing that bugged me, now don't get me wrong, I love looking (at) combo's, ambulances and funeral coaches. But I'm left wondering what's inside of it.. I don't know if I can be of much help, but I have dedicated my time and cash into the equipment of the pre-EMS era. I want a car, someday, but the stuff inside will do fine for now..

Anyhow, I have a text book from 1964, it appears to be for "Rescuemen". That's what I am, more of a rescue oriented and educated person, than a firefighter. All of the images, only show what's inside the ambulances. I'm seeing Lytport II's, the 40's E&J units, physician's bags with unitized first aid packages; and large 36 unit first aid kits. Like mining or utility companies would have used, such as MSA.

The basic equipment seems to be; 2 folding stretchers, a main stretcher, a two cylinder oxygen unit w/ two spares, a 36 unit type first aid kit, blankets, board splints, sterile sheets - I have some 1970's packaged sterile sheets, an OB kit w/ contents listed on the page, and rescue tools. I'll scan the pages if you'd like, and post links to the images tomorrow evening. I'm going to the NJ First Aid Council Convention tomorrow, and the PL Custom factory, so I should probably get some sleep. I hear the factory has a couple vintage ambulances, which is the only reason I agreed to go.
 
some nice stuff a PL customs we did that one at the Jersey meet. but as far as equipment in the combo. first look at what you have for compartments. then remember nothing can show when your in hearse mood. you don't have room for much do you. jump kit tossed in is about it if you had a back board it would be on the gurney if you don't have a in floor storage box vary limited to splints and belts and other equipment. O2 would be only a portable if they had one. you had to be able to toss it in keep it secure and still move around. the swoop ad scoop days meant a fast car and a lot of praying. not a lot of treating. deal with the life thwarting stuff and load and run. most of the runs were stable pt moving from one facility to the other just like today.who need equipment then. and if you got into anything bad your training was such that stop the big bleeder was about it for life saving interventions. did not need a lot of equipment for that either. those that run a full ambulance did a lot more and carried the normal stuff. but the combos were a better then nothing kind of trip. :pat:
 
Sorry if this is getting off topic, but I could add... An elderly gent here in town, young at heart aged 95, was the fire chief back in the 40's. His family ran a furniture store and funeral home from the 1880's till 1959. He has written several local history books, very good friend of mine as well. They ran one of three ambulances in the county. American Legion Post 452 ran one, and another funeral home ran the third. His description, and he's sharp as a tack, was that the ambulance was a white 1934 Packard, with a siren, but no lights; a stretcher and a small first aid kit.. and that was it. When the funeral home sold in 1959, the new owner bought a second hearse, and converted it to a straight ambulance. So, there were then two vehicles for the county, which were actual ambulances. All three operated until fire companies and federal laws took over in '67. The fire company that I run with owned the only resuscitator and oxygen tanks in the county, which were often employed to be used on the ambulances. As the only hospital at that time, which had an emergency room, was nearly 50 miles away, The Robert Packer Hospital. It was an Erickson & Johnstone "Fox" Model, they still own it, except it was stripped and the case is used to carry hoses for the pneumatic lift bags. I also own one of these units.
 
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right on topic. most of us today can't imagine going out with nothing more then your two hands and common since. but that was the extent of equipment in those days.
 
That's always one thing that bugged me, now don't get me wrong, I love looking (at) combo's, ambulances and funeral coaches. But I'm left wondering what's inside of it.. I don't know if I can be of much help, but I have dedicated my time and cash into the equipment of the pre-EMS era. I want a car, someday, but the stuff inside will do fine for now..

Anyhow, I have a text book from 1964, it appears to be for "Rescuemen". That's what I am, more of a rescue oriented and educated person, than a firefighter. All of the images, only show what's inside the ambulances. I'm seeing Lytport II's, the 40's E&J units, physician's bags with unitized first aid packages; and large 36 unit first aid kits. Like mining or utility companies would have used, such as MSA.

The basic equipment seems to be; 2 folding stretchers, a main stretcher, a two cylinder oxygen unit w/ two spares, a 36 unit type first aid kit, blankets, board splints, sterile sheets - I have some 1970's packaged sterile sheets, an OB kit w/ contents listed on the page, and rescue tools. I'll scan the pages if you'd like, and post links to the images tomorrow evening. I'm going to the NJ First Aid Council Convention tomorrow, and the PL Custom factory, so I should probably get some sleep. I hear the factory has a couple vintage ambulances, which is the only reason I agreed to go.

Chris this would make an excellent thread, if you are willing to start it. I'm sure there are plenty of us out there who would like to know what was in our cars.
 
Somthing else to consider for a first aid case..... Back in the 60's, televisions had many tubes. The TV repair guy carried the spare tubes in a case called a tube caddy. They were constructed of thin plywood and covered with vinyl on the exterior. The TV guy could buy a selection of spare tubes and often, the supplier would throw in the case for free. They were typically painted/logo'd for RCA, Motorola, etc. They had a large open area in the bottom, and the top flipped open in two side compartments. They were perfect to hold a selection of the unit packaged first aid supplies that could be obtained from MSA, Bullard, and others; and also some bulk dressings, roller bandages, and misc. equipment such as a scissors, flashliight, turky baster, etc. The TV guys were often members of the volunteer squad and donated the extra cases to be used for this purpose. A little paint took car of the RCA logo. I saw a few of these used in Minnesota, not sure if this was done anywhere else. Seemed like a pretty straight forward solution to storing supplies and equipment. It took until the '70's before anyone offered something like this for sale for this purpose.
 
I've had three such kits myself, one broke; the other I painted and sold on eBay. I still have the third, which is in its original condition.

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Some of those cases were made by the Knickerbocker Case Company. Use Knickerbocker as the search term on E-bay and you'll usually find a few.

R/
Jon
 
Last edited by Chris M. Kelley; Yesterday at 11:51 PM. Reason: I notice my posting numbers never get above 89, so I'm trying to keep on topic. Clearly someone deletes my posts.

Since Chris has put this into a public forum without first addressing this with me, I might as well answer it in the public forum where it is posted. There is no way that I could delete his comment without deleting his post, which would then give validity to his claim.

Chris....

No one is deleting your posts, and your post count will go up when you make posts in certain forums, but not in others. An example is that if you post in the eBay or Craigslist forums, there is no post count credit for these posts. I believe that there are a couple of other forums where post count isn't active, but just can't remember them all. On the flip side of this, even when a post is removed from public view, doesn't mean that the post has been removed from the site. The only posts that are permanently deleted are those that are double posts when people hit the "submit" button more than once. I have just checked your account and you presently have 93 posts to your name. I hope that this answers your question about the post counts...
Thanks Paul

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When I first started in the business in 1963, everything that turned an ambulance into a hearse fit on the Ferno Model 30 (or whatever it was), INCLUDING the 2 Beacon Rays. The backboard went down first, the lights between the arm rails, the Emerson on the foot end, the air-splints beside the Beacons, and the first-aid kit went on the headend under the pillow.

To convert one back in a hurry, we'd throw the Beacons on, hook them up real quick, and one guy would ride the back putting things away as we went. We could get one on the road in about 2 minutes.

The cars we were using at the time were 1963 Pontiac Consort coaches. They would run like a raped ape, but you couldn't keep a transmission in them. They only lasted about 18 months, then Carl broke the lease on them for 1965 Cadillac Superior combos.
 
thanks this is about how I would have imagined it would take place. one would have to have had the car available at all times for the primary purpose which was funeral service. the ambulance was a secondary function. kind of like now in the fire station. ambulance service is something we do between fires.
 
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