EMSA unveiled its new look Monday

Why a ride to the hospital in Tulsa might look a whole lot different soon. <br/><br/>For almost 30 years, orange stripes in your rear-view mirror meant an EMSA ambulance was heading your direction. Now,

Monday, April 11th 2005, 6:19 am

By: News On 6

Why a ride to the hospital in Tulsa might look a whole lot different soon.

For almost 30 years, orange stripes in your rear-view mirror meant an EMSA ambulance was heading your direction. Now, the fleet is undergoing a major makeover, that'll be more than just a facelift.

News on 6 anchor Scott Thompson says things are changing inside and out.

Paramedics are calling the new ambulance the "Rolls-Royce" of emergency vehicles. The new EMSA ambulances are red, white and blue and are loaded with new features. The manufacturer says safety was priority one in designing the fleet. The new ambulances feature a back up alarm that alerts the driver if anything's behind them.

For the first time ever, the ambulances now have dual-climate control to help keep both patients and paramedics comfortable. And some of the new features, like extra headroom, should keep paramedics from ending up in pain themselves. Paramedic Jon Morton: "Now we won't have to be hunched over all the time. We can stand up, some of us. It's about 6 inches taller than what we're used to. And when you're working for 12 hours a day, man that back starts to hurt."

The ambulance EMSA unveiled in Tulsa Monday will be unveiled in Oklahoma City Tuesday.