For almost a quarter of a century, the emergency medical services of this country have been represented by an association dedicated to the production of safe, state-of-the art ambulances. That organization is the AMBULANCE MANUFACTURERS DIVISION (AMD) of the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA). The NTEA is the only trade association representing the nation s manufacturers and distributors of commercial trucks, truck bodies, truck equipment and accessories. NTEA members include companies that produce highly specialized vehicles, such as ambulances, towing and recovery vehicles, small school buses and mid-size buses. The NTEA provides its 1,500 members with resource materials, technical assistance, education and training and business improvement programs.
Headquartered in Detroit, the NTEA interacts directly with the major truck chassis manufacturers on product compatibility issues. From its government relations office in Washington, DC, the association deeps its members advised of changing regulations affecting commercial trucks and lobbies on the industry s behalf. Before affiliating with the NTEA, the AMD was a division of the Truck Body and Equipment Association. In 1986 the AMD became a division of the NTEA to further enhance its credibility and depth of professionalism. The organization has grown dramatically over the past 15 years as more and more ambulance manufacturers and industry-related companies realize the value and significance of being an AMD member. Currently composed of approximately 45 companies, the AMD has consistently maintained representation of over 90% of the ambulance production in North America. Since its founding in 1976, the AMD has worked closely with all State and Federal regulatory agencies and has been directly involved in activities that benefit the general public as well as the industry.
Most AMD members maintain staff engineers to keep their companies abreast of technological advances applying to the manufacture of ambulance bodies, electrical systems, environmental systems, and other ambulance components. These advances are incorporated into new ambulance models thereby continuously improving the industry through competition. No governmental agency dictates that AMD members make these improvements; they are done voluntarily to upgrade the product, make it more reliable, and provide even more dependable life support capabilities.
Federal law and regulation require that all motor vehicles, including ambulances, operated on public highways conform and be certified to all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Motor Vehicle Safety Standards as originally defined in the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 means a minimum standard for motor vehicle performance, or motor vehicle equipment performance, which is practicable which meets the need for motor vehicle safety and which provides objective criteria. For additional definitions see 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 Motor Vehicle Safety.
Development of AMD Standards began almost 25 years ago by AMD members in conjunction with the GSA and is currently cited in KKK-A-1822 (See Paragraph 2.2 Applicable Documents, Other Publications). KKK-A-1822 requires that all ambulances conform with all FMVSSs and AMD Standards. AMD Standards are meant to enhance KKK-A-1822 and supplement the FMVSSs by providing ambulance purchasers and users with performance standards specific to ambulances. AMD Standards provide a verifiable means by which to help assure safety and reliability.
AMD Standards are developed and revised with input from the GSA, ambulance manufacturers and component suppliers, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and vehicle maintenance personnel and other interested parties through public comment. All comments are considered and appropriate revisions are made before a standard is voted on for adoption. All of the enclosed AMD Standards have been incorporated into the latest revision of KKK-A-1822. The AMD welcomes your comments and suggestions regarding improvements and/or corrections to AMD Standards. Written comments and suggestions regarding changes to an existing and/or proposed new standard(s) need to include a reasonable and rational explanation for the change(s) based in sound engineering principles, proposed/ revised language, cost/benefit analysis, verifiable statistics, test results and/or engineering studies where applicable. Suggested changes must be performance based, industry generic and cannot in any way restrict trade or innovation. Comments and suggestions received without the aforementioned information cannot be considered.
Written comments and suggestions received with the required information by the AMD Secretary will be submitted to the AMD Technical Committee for review and comment. The Technical Committee will review the comments and suggestions and send a written response to the writer confirming receipt and status. If the Technical Committee does not consider the proposed changes appropriate or viable, a written response will be sent explaining why the comments and suggestions do not merit further consideration. If considered appropriate, the Technical Committee will make a recommendation to the full AMD membership for further review and discussion.
If the AMD membership does not consider the proposed changes appropriate or viable, a written response will be sent explaining why the comments and suggestions do not merit further consideration. If approved, with or without changes, by a majority of full AMD members, the proposed revisions will be made available for public comment on the NTEA s Web site, http://www.ntea.com. If, after an appropriate public comment period, no adverse comments are received, the recommended revisions will become final and effective after approval by a majority of full AMD members. If adverse or negative comments are received, those comments will be sent back to the Technical Committee and/or full AMD membership for review and response. The review/revision process will continue until no negative comments are received.
To view the more information on the Current AMD standards, please copy and paste the link below in your browser.
http://www.ntea.com/mr/divisions/amd/standards_001-015.pdf
