During the past several months Osage has been involved in certifying its entire product line up to the F revision of the KKK document. This process, while costly and time consuming, insures that all products meet or exceed the KKK guidelines.

The KKK-F document contains a change in patient compartment seating positions relative to head impact clearance. Section 3.11.4 requires a minimum of 43" vertical overhead clearance be provided in all seating positions. Furthermore, AMD standard 025 requires use of a "test fixture" to verify compliance with this new specification.

The impact to industry is significant. On an ambulance with 72" headroom, the cabinet over the squad bench can only be 7 1/4" overall height. On an ambulance with 66" or 68" head clearance, no cabinet over the squad bench will be provided.

In Type II ambulances, because of the curvature of the factory side wall, the test fixture required for compliance, will not fit on the squad bench of the Type II. As a result, no seatbelts will be provided on the squad bench of Type II. Therefore, there are no designated seating positions other then the EMT seat.

As mentioned, these are significant changes that you need to be aware of. For additional clarification, please contact your local Osage dealer or email us at info@osageind.com.

Emergency Services Supply was founded in 1974 by Bob Zaitz and became the first Ambulance Dealer for Osage Industries, Inc. in 1985. Emergency Services Supply presently represents Osage Industries, Inc. in Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas, Tennessee and Alabama. Bob currently has offices in St. Louis, Missouri; Wichita, Kansas; Linn, Missouri and Powell, Tennessee. Missouri, Oklahoma and Illinois are covered by Bob Zaitz, John Kehoe and Mark Jones. Tennessee and Alabama are covered by David Kelley. Kansas is covered by Keene Schaaf. This unit represents the 1000th unit sold by Bob. Congratulations Bob Zaitz!