"We
are the largest lifeguard organization in the world, and we have always
blazed the trail for the profession," said Mike Frazer, chief,
Lifeguard Services, Los Angeles County Fire Department. "We wanted to
be the first public safety agency in the country to go green."
"This
continues the Escape Hybrid's impressive string of endorsements," said
Hal Dewsnap, California regional sales manager for Ford Motor Company.
"In addition to being clean and fuel-efficient, the Escape Hybrid is
highly functional and durable, proven in hundreds of thousands of miles
in taxi service in New York and San Francisco. Now, we are adding
lifeguard duty to the list."
And some might agree that there is no better vehicle for that
assignment than the world's most fuel-efficient SUV. The ordinary
front-wheel-drive Ford Escape Hybrid promises 34 mpg in city driving
and 30 mpg on the highway. Intelligent four-wheel-drive models, like
the ones used by the lifeguards, should offer about 29 mpg city and 27
highway.
"The
Escape Hybrid is one of the cleanest vehicles available today," added
Freeman Thomas, Ford Design Director whose studio developed the design
of the Lifeguard vehicles. "It meets California's strict Partial Zero
Emissions Vehicle (PZEV) standard. To put it in a California summer
context, it releases fewer smog-forming emissions into the atmosphere
during a three-hour drive (about 180 miles) than grilling one hamburger
in your back yard."
Frazer agrees that the Escape Hybrid was an
ideal choice from an environmental standpoint, but he admits to having
some initial reservations about whether an SUV would function as well
on the beach as the compact pickup trucks the lifeguards were used to
driving.
"The switch from a pickup to an SUV was something new
to us, but when Ford brought the Escape Hybrid down to the beach, we
were amazed at how well it performed," he said, adding that he was
particularly surprised by the vehicle's ability to navigate through the
sand without getting stuck.
With the Escape Hybrid, Frazer says
he was also able to make more precise turns, enjoy extra headroom (he's
6'5") and gain greater visibility, which is a huge safety plus on the
beach. "We need to be able to see as much as possible because there's
so much activity on the beach, especially in the summertime," he said.
"When we're responding to a rescue, we want to get there quickly and
safely."
Shortly after that initial field test, a team of designers from Ford's
Irvine studio visited the beach to do a little "guerrilla research,"
says Ford designer Jeff Nield.
"These
people save lives, so this was not just an exercise in styling," said
Nield. "We wanted to design features for them that are functional and
could potentially save them valuable time in an emergency situation."
Careful
inspection of the previous trucks the lifeguards were using revealed
various makeshift storage areas for critical equipment. "In the past,
different lifeguards would set vehicles up differently, so if you
worked at one beach and then got called in a crisis to another
location, you would have to search to find the emergency tools you
needed because the storage area was not standardized," he said.
The
Ford designers decided to remove 60 percent of the rear seat on the
driver's side and replace it with a rescue equipment storage unit - an
aluminum box with specially designated spaces for important emergency
equipment, such as defibrillators, trauma boxes and oxygen tanks. The
remaining 40 percent of the seat was left intact in case the lifeguards
had to transport someone, such as a lost child.
According to
Ford Design Project Manager, Greg Hutting, the lifeguards' multiple
radios also presented the design team with a challenge: "In the
previous vehicle, they had three or four different radios pushed
wherever they had room," he said. "We pulled out the center console
and replaced it with a radio rack that keeps all of their equipment
lined up and organized."
Ford designers also outfitted the
Escape Hybrids with a custom-fit roof rack for the lifeguards' paddle
board and spine board, and easy-to-clean rubber floor mats and cargo
liners.
When it came to the exterior, Nield says it was
important to make the vehicle look "fresh but not trendy." The
vehicles were painted a vibrant yellow - iconic for lifeguards - and
then detailed with authoritative graphics and finished off with dark
wheels. "We really pushed to make the vehicle look as rugged as
possible," said Nield.
Frazer says he couldn't be more
pleased. "The vehicles look amazing, they perform great and they are
hybrids, so they are good for the environment," he said. "It's a win,
win, win situation for us.
It's also a win for Ford Motor
Company. "The lifeguards are going to be pushing these vehicles to the
limit, and they need the best vehicle to get the job done," added
Nield. "They had choices, and they chose the Ford Escape Hybrid."
By Brandy Schaffels
AskPatty.com Editor
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