Can You See Us Now?

Old ambulance markings

A few years ago we made a radical departure from how our ambulances were marked. We realized we were doing a number of things wrong and not maximizing our visibility while operating on the roadways. One of our members did a ton of research and figured out what we could do to make ourselves more visible. This required a huge departure from our current color scheme and took a little while to get everyone to buy in.

The new markings

Color
The first big change was moving from maroon to a yellow and blue color combination. The fluorescent yellow color is highly visible both day and night. The decals are also made with a retro reflective material meaning that they reflect light back to the driver.

Contour stripes

Contours
The entire ambulance is outlined in a retro reflective stripe. Being white it is hard to see during the day but at night it makes it obvious that a driver is approaching an ambulance.




Chevrons

Chevron

Chevron are the inverted V pattern found on the back of emergency vehicles. The idea is that they draw a drivers attention toward the vehicle because it is so unique. Some of the key points to designing an effective chevron are:

• Make each line at least 6" wide. Any less and it makes for odd optical illusions.
• Select contrasting colors: blue & yellow, red & yellow, red & white, blue & white and green & white are recommended.
• Cover only about 50% of the rear of the truck. 100% becomes distracting and costs more.
• Chevrons should only be on the rear of a vehicle otherwise it causes confusion

We've been quite happy with our ambulance design and plan to hold on to it for a long time. In doing this research it is surprising how many ambulances are designed for good looks rather than visibility. If you want to learn more you can check out this FEMA publication.