Braun ambulances can be found across the country with organizations large and small, public and private. One of our most well-known customers is New Orleans Emergency Medical Services. One of the busiest EMS departments in the country, the City of New Orleans has 20 Braun Liberty ambulance models in their fleet. They are on emergency calls for service 70-75% of the time, a high call volume that has been documented on the popular A & E show, NIGHTWATCH.

Over the years, we have worked with NOLA EMS to design, build, and deliver a highly customized version of our Liberty model. The units include a Whelen LED light package, Whelen Dominator 8 LED light in grille, SK4 ultraviolet air purification system, custom personnel storage locker for crew gear built-in to console, built-in GPS feature, rear module camera & backup camera, DriveCam event recorder, all aluminum interior, Meganite cabinets, custom equipment mounts, and custom designed aluminum console to store mobile data terminal, siren, radios, wireless keyboard, & flashlights. During that time, we’ve also gotten to know the department and its leaders quite well and enjoy any opportunity we have to celebrate their successes.

Chad Brown, Braun Industries’ Vice President of Sales and Marketing, recently traveled to New Orleans to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new EMS headquarters. On January 13, 2016, Chad joined NOLA EMS Chief Carl Flores for a personal tour of the facility. The state-of-the-art building is now home to the New Orleans Coroner’s Office and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Headquarters, and is located in the B.W. Cooper neighborhood.

Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans Emergency Medical Services has occupied several makeshift quarters around the city. The new 14,000 square foot, two-story facility now contains all the day-to-day operations for New Orleans EMS. This includes an Emergency Operation Center to coordinate deployment of emergency vehicles and an Operation Department to store supplies in a controlled environment to fully stock emergency vehicles. There are 34 ambulance docks for replenishing ambulance supplies at shift changes, 23 parking spaces for EMS Sprint Vehicle SUVs, 10 spaces for EMS specialty vehicles, and secure parking for staff vehicles. It also has an Emergency Vehicle wash rack to keep units clean.

The new location has also consolidated all administrative offices under one roof. Facilities include staff areas with locker rooms, on-call rooms, report-writing areas, an open office suite for shift supervisors to coordinate shift activities, and multi-purpose rooms to provide staff training and house crew members temporarily in case of a city evacuation. Having previously experienced a catastrophic natural disaster, the new EMS Headquarters also features a full back-up generator for round-the-clock operation in the event of a power outage, along with additional capabilities for EMS staff to remain on duty during a citywide evacuation.

“I was so impressed by the new EMS headquarters. It’s a first-class facility,” says Chad Brown. “I know it took them 10 long years to get there, but it is a beautiful building worth the wait. I was so honored to be included among the guests at the ribbon cutting ceremony, and it was a pleasure touring the building with Chief Carl Flores. The City of New Orleans has been a great customer to work with, and we are so pleased for them to start this next chapter in their new home. We hope it will make their incredible job of saving lives day in and day out a bit easier so they can keep doing what they do best.”

Congratulations New Orleans Emergency Medical Services. We love your new home and know it will treat you well!