CEN 1789:2020 is the European Union standard for ambulances and medical transportation vehicles. This European standard specifies requirements for the design, testing, performance and equipping of road ambulances used for the transport and care of patients. This standard is applicable to road ambulances capable of transporting at least one person on a stretcher.
History
The current version of standard CEN 1789 was published by the Comité Européen de Normalisation (European Committee on Standardization) on October 1, 2020. This replaced an early version of the standard, published in 2007. European standards are generally annotated by the organization, standard number and year of publication (e.g. CEN 1789:2000 or CEN 1789/2007). Within member countries, the annotation is likely to be adapted to include the local standards body, so that in Britain, the 'C' is dropped from the prefix, and replaced with 'BS', in Germany with 'DIN', and so on. Because of the likelihood of significant changes between versions, only the most current version of any standard should be used. The Comité Européen de Normalisation is an agency of the government of the European Union, with membership from the National Standards Body of each participating member country.
While CEN 1789:2020 represents the current European standard for the design of ambulances, it is by no means the only example of such a standard. Standards for ambulance design have existed in the United States since 1976, where the standard is known as KKK-1822-A. This standard has been revised several times, and is currently in version 'F', known as KKK-1822-F. As with the European system, only the most current version of the standard should be used. One of the first known standards for ambulance design occurred in London, England, as the result of efforts by the Metropolitan Asylums Board, acting in response to the cholera outbreak of 1832. While horse-drawn, this provided the actual standard for many of the earliest civilian ambulances around the world. More contemporary versions of ambulance design standards also exist at a local level in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In each case, the country or jurisdiction develops such standards based upon its own needs, priorities, and realities, and this is also true of the European standard. In some cases, standards compliance may not be planned, and may occur as an incidental result of normal operations. To illustrate, a small country has no domestic ambulance manufacturers, but imports its vehicles from a larger country in which the manufacturer must comply with a published standard. In most cases, the ambulances imported by the smaller country will end up complying with the larger country's standard, regardless of whether or not this outcome was intended. American and Australian standards were reviewed and considered during the development of the European standard, but were not precisely followed because European needs and priorities were different.
Intent
The standard is intended to gradually transform the existing 'patchwork' of ambulance design and equipment across Europe into a single set of standards. An ambulance from one country would possess sufficiently common characteristics to be immediately recognizable by the residents of another country. Such vehicles would be similar enough in design to be interchangeable, with emergency medical services personnel from one country able to quickly adapt to the use of a vehicle from another country, if required. Above all, such vehicles would be safe for those being transported in them, those working in them, other users of the road, and the general public.
Vehicle standards
Requirements are specified for categories of road ambulances based in increasing order of the level of treatment that can be carried out. The standard includes both vehicle type and also engine type and performance characteristics, including vehicle dimensions, acceleration rate, braking capacity, traction control, fire safety, and heating/cooling.
Interior design standards
The standard contains ergonomic requirements and design specifications for the patient compartment, and also places practical restrictions on the physical lifting of patients in and out of the vehicle, for safety reasons. Other safety factors addressed include lighting, doors & windows, cabinet securing systems, seatbelt and seat anchorage, seat size & position, and restraint of medical equipment, with provisions for static testing, dynamic and impact testing.