Matthias Quickert is an old hand when it comes to emergency vehicles. As a paramedic, he was involved in rescue services and patient transport, becoming acquainted with problems both big and small. 28 years ago, he decided to go into the private sector and, as a graduate in administrative management, became Head of Sales at Binz.

Today, the company’s headquarters are located in the university town of Ilmenau, where Goethe once lived, on the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest. Matthias Quickert knows what his customers want: vehicles with a high degree of reliability and equipment which meet the highest standards – for fire brigades, rescue services, police and the armed forces.

Every year, Binz equips some 1,000 emergency and rescue vehicles with the necessary interior equipment. In cooperation with the Technical University of Ilmenau, the company points to its continual development of new solutions to meet complex technical challenges.

"Small intensive care units on wheels"

Quickert has been involved in developing ambulances and special vehicles for decades. "Take emergency ambulances, for example, from the Golf II to today’s vehicles like the VW T6, MB Vito, Ford Custom and MB Sprinter," he says. "Or your classic ambulance vehicles: Previously equipped with a stretcher and a bag containing only the most necessary materials, today we have what are essentially small intensive care units on wheels."

He is also fond of mentioning the creation of the box body for ambulances, the so-called "rescube" concept developed by his company, which concentrates on the rescue service’s activities as opposed to just the vehicle. "This innovative concept allows for a higher quality of care, which enables staff to treat patients even more effectively," Quickert explains.

As digitalization continues its forward march, his company is developing into a one-stop shop for vehicle interior solutions. Quickert and his colleagues will be showcasing some of the most interesting results at INTERSCHUTZ. He does not want to reveal everything in advance so as not to spoil the surprise.

But one thing is certain: "Vehicles won’t change significantly on the outside, but their inner workings will be substantially different," he reports, because connecting the rescue crews inside those vehicles is set to play a major role. "It's no longer simply about connecting the people involved, but also about creating fast connections to all the relevant information," explains the sales manager.

Info from the Cloud

"Information on paper that needs to be transported in the mobile command vehicle, for example, will be a thing of the past. Anything that might be useful will be available in the Cloud." Important information on getting there be available via the Internet and GPS – for example, information on the fastest, most congestion-free route or the length of the journey. Depending on availability via the 5G, 4G or even LTE mobile communications standard, the technology in the respective vehicles will be adapted to individual requirements and updated as appropriate.

"Our technology, which has already made us the market leader, will be setting the trend over the coming years," Quickert reports. According to him, Binz will also be presenting innovative technology in the field of electric mobility at INTERSCHUTZ. "We will be demonstrating an emergency vehicle with an electric drive in Hannover," he promises.