- February 5, 2026
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It’s here. And it’s got that “new car” smell.
Longboat Key Fire Rescue’s customized ambulance arrived this month after more than a year of planning, building and preparing the $270,000 vehicle.
Three firefighter paramedics, including Brandon Desch, spent months last year thinking about what they liked and what they wanted to change about their current fleet, and how the trucks could be made safer for patients and first responders.
Most of the upgrades are designed to make the ambulance more user-friendly for paramedics, Desch said. That includes a touch screen in the truck cabin, redesigned exterior storage and additional medicine cabinets.
The truck also features LED emergency lights, which are much brighter and draw less energy than conventional lights, and a “howler” siren that emits a bass tone designed to vibrate vehicles and alert drivers.
The Longboat Observer went inside the truck to share more of its special features.
Lights flash on the door panels as Desch opens the door to the truck cabin. A few steps up lands him on the passenger side of two seats separated by a control module.
The center console offers some amenities found in most vehicles — two cup holders and a radio — but also many that can only be found in an emergency response vehicle. Those include:
- A customized box behind the console providing easy access to three boxes of latex gloves;
- A siren panel with seven buttons that all make the truck emit sirens of different tones and patterns.
- A multi-function knob for a driver to operate a control panel.
Above the center console is the control panel called Opticom, which provides a centralized location to operate everything in the vehicle except for steering and acceleration.
This touch screen gives paramedics the ability to see what emergency lights are operating, control the siren, check which doors are open, monitor the vehicle’s oxygen levels and battery life, see blind spots while driving, adjust the cabin temperature and much more.
Two doors swing open to reveal a black rail-like device with yellow and black chevron pattern, nonstick floors, white cabinets and five seats with six-point harnesses.
The Stryker Power Loader, the technical name for what looks like a shallow partition for the cab, is designed to extend and connect to a stretcher, lifting a patient into the treatment area. This device is meant to prevent potential back injuries for paramedics and firefighters.
The walls of the patient cabin are lined with cabinets larger than those in the department’s two other rescue vehicles: about 6 inches taller. There are also plugs for phones to call a hospital or look up a patient’s medications, a clock and timer and two other Opticom control panels.
A white heart monitor mount is fixed to a cabinet top, designed to keep the device secure.
The seats are designed with six point harnesses instead of lap belts, like in the other rescue vehicles. These safety straps are designed to give paramedics leverage to reach over and treat patients while staying securely in their seats.
Also inside is a cabinet that can be accessed from the interior and exterior of the vehicle for storing medical, airway, pediatric and water rescue bags.
The biggest difference outside of the truck is the markings: white with a red and black stripe rather than white with a yellow and blue stripe. Desch said this change was made to keep the color pattern consistent with its red trucks yet distinguish it from Sarasota rescue vehicles.
A reflective yellow and red chevron pattern covers the back of the truck, a Florida requirement.
Lights line the foot rails of the vehicle, which flash white and red when running, then switch to solid white underneath any door that is open for visibility.
All of the vehicle’s emergency lights are light emitting diodes, or LEDs, which are brighter and draw less power than conventional bulbs.
Exterior storage has also been updated, including a slide-out partition for easy access to the truck’s firehose (yes, Longboat Key Rescue vehicles carry fire hoses) and a self-lowering oxygen tank device.
