Braun Industries was recently featured in an article titled "Ambulances Getting Smarter, Including Custom Interior Details." Written by Alan M. Petrillo, the piece was featured in the June 2012 issue of Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment magazine. It highlighted several new ambulance modules and  custom interior details that were shown at FDIC. For Braun, the article focused primarily on the Chief XL EZ Door Forward and Phil Braun Signature Series models. An excerpt of the article, as it relates to Braun Industries, can be found below.

Dealer and Customer Design

Braun Industries, which has been building custom ambulances for 50 years, exhibited two new models: the Phillip C. Braun Signature Series and the Chief XL. Chad Brown, Braun's vice president of sales and marketing, says the Chief XL on display was the EZ door-forward model that relates the crew's side door forward toward the cab so the attending paramedic doesn't have to get up from his seat to access equipment.

The Chief XL exhibited is built on a Chevy G4500 chassis with a 159-inch wheelbase. Overall length of the XL is 279 inches, width is 98 inches, and height is 160.5 inches. The Chief XL can be built on other chassis, Brown said, including the Ford E-450 and F-450, Ram D4500, and International TerraStar. Inside, the Chief XL features 45-degree angle cabinets and duplicate electronics and equipment panels for easy access. "The design of the Chief XL was brought to us by our dealers and customers," Brown says, "so it's a response to their needs."

Braun also introduced its Phillip C. Braun Signature Series Type III on a Chevy G3500 chassis (also available on a Ford E-350 chassis). The Signature Series as displayed has a 150-inch-long box with 68 inches of headroom and an overall length of 260 inches. Height is 102.5 inches, and width if 95 inches. The rig features Braun's SolidBody construction, MasterTech multiplex electrical system, Eberhard free floating latches, an all LED lighting package, a customized interior front wall, and street-side wall layout.

Other ambulances Braun displayed included a Chief XL on a Ford F-450 chassis, built for the Sharonsville (OH) Fire Department, with five-point seat harnesses, duplex equipment for easy access, and a forward-facing paramedic seat; and a unit built for the West Licking (OH) Fire Department on an International DuraStar Super Chief with an extended cab.

Braun also displayed its Patriot - a combination pumper, rescue, and ambulance - built for the Volusia (FL) City Fire Services on a Spartan MetroStar LTD chassis. The Patriot, powered by a Cummins ISB 6.7-liter diesel, carries a Waterous CAFS unit, 200 gallons of water, 15 gallons of foam, and three crosslays and has a transverse compartment behind the cab. At the rear of the unit is Braun's 156-inch-long ambulance module.