Medtec preliminary evaluation PE11041
Collapse of Squad Seat Base. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the anchorage on 1 model year (2011). Opened Jan 20, 2012, closed Jan 11, 2013 after 12 months. It led to safety recall 12V554000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn January 20th 2012 the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to assess and review a complaint (VOQ # 10424476) concerning a squad bench failure on a 2011 Medtec R152 Type 1 Ambulance emergency response vehicle. The VOQ, submitted by an emergency medical professional, indicated that he was injured due to a failure of the bench seat in the emergency cab while treating a patient en route to the hospital. The complainant was allegedly sitting on the squad seat bench located in the emergency cab when the vehicle drove over a bump causing the seat to separate from its hinged bracket. This failure caused the complainant to fall into the lower storage area, allegedly injuring his back in the process. An ODI investigator contacted the complainant and arranged for an inspection of similar vehicles to examine their squad bench seats. ODI also contacted the Vehicle Research Testing Center (VRTC) to conduct testing of the bench seat and its support hinge. However, Medtec initiated a safety recall before VRTC completed its testing program. On November 29th 2012, Medtec submitted a Part 573 defect notice indicating it would conduct a safety recall to install improved seat hinge hardware on the effected population. This investigation is closed. NHTSA will continue to monitor the recalled vehicles to ensure the remedy implemented by Medtec is adequate. The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances. The ODI report cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification (ODI) number: 10424476.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2011 Medtec Ambulance.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE11041 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 12V554000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE11041 still open?
No. It closed on Jan 11, 2013 and led to recall 12V554000.
Which vehicles does PE11041 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2011 Medtec Ambulance. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.