Ambulance types, and adding police to incidents

walkinglucas · 9. März 2026 um 18:13

Hey all. I am currently building a dispatch region for the Phoenix, Arizona region in the USA.

When I was adding units, I noticed there are 4 types of EMS resources

AMB

AMB I

AMB II

EMS Captain.

I know that AMB I and AMB II are urgent vs non urgent transport ambulances, but what is the AMB unit used for?

Also, during a trial run, units attached to a structure fire kept asking for police units to respond, but no where in the operations tab is there an ability to dispatch police officers. Am I missing something?

Mein Deutsch ist wirklich schlecht, ich habe es seit Jahren nicht mehr gesprochen. Ich hoffe also, dass Google Translate die Übersetzung korrekt durchführt.

Hallo zusammen! Ich erstelle gerade eine Einsatzleitstelle für die Region Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Beim Hinzufügen von Einheiten ist mir aufgefallen, dass es vier Arten von Rettungsdienstressourcen gibt:

AMB

AMB I

AMB II

EMS Captain

Ich weiß, dass AMB I und AMB II Notfall- bzw. Nicht-Notfall-Rettungswagen sind, aber wofür wird die AMB-Einheit eingesetzt?

Außerdem haben während eines Testlaufs Einheiten, die zu einem Gebäudebrand gerufen wurden, ständig die Polizei angefordert. Ich finde aber nirgends im Einsatzmenü die Möglichkeit, Polizeibeamte zu alarmieren. Übersehe ich da etwas?

danielschwarz · 9. März 2026 um 18:39

This is just a copy-paste of an internal document. We are working on a ‚nicer‘ version for our knowledge base at kb.xenbit.app. Since I don’t have an ETA, I will just post the plain text here. It’s better than nothing.

Overview

Every unit in ResQueServe has a Category (enum UnitCategory).
The category controls:

The label shown in the UI (e.g. „AMB Type I“)
Whether the unit is suggested automatically when a mission keyword requires ambulances, fire engines, doctors, etc.
Whether the unit can transport patients
Which dispatch slot (urgent ambulance, non-urgent transport, physician, fire, …) the unit fills

Note: A unit’s category can be cosmetically overridden with a custom label using the Category Override field — but the underlying behaviour (suggestion logic, patient transport capability, etc.) always follows the original category value.

Quick Look-Up Table

Enum value	English display name	German origin	US equivalent	Group
`RTW`	AMB Type I	Rettungswagen	ALS Ambulance / Type I Ambulance	EMS – Urgent Ambulance
`KTW`	AMB Type II	Krankentransportwagen	BLS Ambulance / Type II Ambulance	EMS – Non-Urgent Transport
`MZF`	AMB	Mehrzweckfahrzeug	General Purpose Ambulance	EMS – Ambulance (Urgent & Non-Urgent)
`SRTW`	AMB Bari	Schwerlast-RTW	Bariatric Ambulance	EMS – Urgent Ambulance
`NAW`	AMB Physician	Notarzt-Wagen	Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) / Physician Ambulance	EMS – Urgent Ambulance & Doctor
`NEF`	Physician	Notarzt-Einsatzfahrzeug	Fly-Car / Physician Response Unit	EMS – Doctor (Ground)
`ITW`	AMB ICU	Intensivtransportwagen	Critical Care Transport (CCT) Ambulance	EMS – ICU Ambulance
`ITH`	AIR ICU-AMB	Intensivtransporthubschrauber	Critical Care Helicopter	EMS – ICU Helicopter
`RTH`	AIR AMB	Rettungshubschrauber	Air Ambulance / HEMS Helicopter	EMS – Air Ambulance
`LNA`	Physician Chief	Leitender Notarzt	EMS Medical Officer / Medical Commander	EMS – Command
`ORGL`	EMS Captain	Organisatorischer Leiter Rettungsdienst	EMS Operations Captain / MCI Coordinator	EMS – Command
`HLF`	Engine	Hilfeleistungslöschfahrzeug	Pumper / Engine	Fire
`DLK`	Ladder	Drehleiter-Kombination	Aerial Ladder / Tiller Truck	Fire
`RW`	Rescue	Rüstwagen	Heavy Rescue Truck	Fire
`TLF`	Tender	Tanklöschfahrzeug	Water Tender / Tanker	Fire
`LF`	[GER] LF	Löschfahrzeug	Fire Engine (German-specific)	Fire
`KLF`	[GER] KLF	Kleinlöschfahrzeug	Small Fire Engine (German-specific)	Fire
`MLF`	[GER] MLF	Mittleres Löschfahrzeug	Medium Fire Engine (German-specific)	Fire
`ELW1`	Command Van	Einsatzleitwagen 1	Command Unit / IC Vehicle	Fire – Command
`ELW2`	Command Truck	Einsatzleitwagen 2	Mobile Command Post	Fire – Command
`KDOW`	Buggy	Kommandowagen	Chief’s Response Vehicle	Fire – Command
`KRBM`	District Chief	Kreisbrandmeister	District Fire Chief	Fire – Command
`STBM`	City Chief	Stadtbrandmeister	City Fire Chief	Fire – Command
`GEBM`	Battalion Chief	Gemeindebrandmeister	Battalion Chief	Fire – Command
`GWG`	Hazmat Truck	Gerätewagen Gefahrgut	HazMat Truck	Fire – Special
`GWL`	Logistics Truck	Gerätewagen Logistik	Logistics Support Truck	Fire – Special
`GWDEKON`	Decon Truck	Gerätewagen Dekontamination	Decontamination Truck	Fire – Special
`WLF`	Pod Truck	Wechselladerfahrzeug	Hook-Lift / Pod Truck	Fire – Special
`MTW`	Crew Van	Mannschaftstransportwagen	Personnel Carrier / Crew Transport	Fire – Support
`PKW`	Car	Personenkraftwagen	Staff Car / Light Utility Vehicle	Support
`KEF`	Utility Van	Kleineinsatzfahrzeug	Utility Van / Small Response Vehicle	Support

Category Groups

EMS – Urgent Ambulance

Units in this group respond to life-threatening emergencies and count toward DispatchAmountAmbulanceUrgent in keyword configuration.

Enum	US term
`RTW`	ALS Ambulance (Type I)
`MZF`	General Ambulance
`SRTW`	Bariatric Ambulance
`NAW`	Physician Ambulance / MICU

US Note — RTW: In Germany, the Rettungswagen (RTW) is the standard ALS emergency ambulance dispatched for life-threatening calls — equivalent to a Type I ALS Ambulance in the US. When a keyword requires an urgent ambulance, any RTW on your roster will satisfy that requirement.

EMS – Non-Urgent Transport

Units in this group handle scheduled or lower-acuity patient transport and count toward DispatchAmountAmbulanceRegular.

Enum	US term
`MZF`	General Ambulance (also fills Urgent slot)
`KTW`	BLS Ambulance (Type II / Non-Emergency)

US Note — KTW: The Krankentransportwagen (KTW) is the German equivalent of a Type II BLS Ambulance used for non-emergency patient transfers. It is not suggested for urgent calls — only for regular/scheduled transport requirements.

EMS – Doctor Units

Doctor units carry or are a physician and count toward DispatchAmountDoctor (generic physician) or the specific slots listed below.

Enum	Specific dispatch slot	US term
`NEF`	DispatchAmountDoctorGround	Fly-Car / Physician Response Vehicle
`NAW`	DispatchAmountAmbulanceDoctor	Physician Ambulance / MICU
`RTH`	DispatchAmountHelicopter	Air Ambulance (HEMS)
`ITH`	DispatchAmountHelicopterICU	Critical Care Helicopter
`ITW`	DispatchAmountAmbulanceICU	Critical Care Transport Ambulance
`LNA`	DispatchAmountDoctor	EMS Medical Officer / Medical Commander

US Note — NEF: The German Notarzt-Einsatzfahrzeug works like a US fly-car: the physician drives separately from the ambulance, meets the crew on-scene, and returns without transporting the patient.

EMS – Air Ambulance

Enum	US term
`RTH`	HEMS Helicopter / Air Ambulance
`ITH`	Critical Care Helicopter (ICU-configured)

EMS – Command

Enum	US term
`LNA`	EMS Medical Officer
`ORGL`	EMS Operations Captain / MCI Coordinator

Fire

Standard fire suppression and rescue apparatus.

Enum	US term
`HLF`	Pumper / Engine
`DLK`	Aerial Ladder
`RW`	Heavy Rescue Truck
`TLF`	Water Tender / Tanker
`LF`	Fire Engine (German-specific)
`KLF`	Small Fire Engine (German-specific)
`MLF`	Medium Fire Engine (German-specific)

Note: KLF, LF, and MLF are German fire-service vehicle classes with no direct US equivalent. Their display name in English therefore shows a [GER] prefix as a reminder.

Fire – Command

Enum	US term
`ELW1`	Command Unit / IC Vehicle
`ELW2`	Mobile Command Post
`KDOW`	Chief’s Response Vehicle
`KRBM`	District Fire Chief
`STBM`	City Fire Chief
`GEBM`	Battalion Chief

Fire – Special

Enum	US term
`GWG`	HazMat Truck
`GWL`	Logistics Support Truck
`GWDEKON`	Decontamination Truck
`WLF`	Hook-Lift / Pod Truck

Support

Enum	US term
`MTW`	Personnel Carrier / Crew Transport Van
`PKW`	Staff Car
`KEF`	Utility Van / Small Response Vehicle

Patient Transport Capability

Only the following categories can be assigned as the transporting unit for a patient:

Enum	US term
`RTW`	ALS Ambulance (Type I)
`KTW`	BLS Ambulance (Type II)
`MZF`	General Ambulance
`SRTW`	Bariatric Ambulance
`NAW`	Physician Ambulance / MICU
`ITH`	Critical Care Helicopter
`RTH`	Air Ambulance / HEMS Helicopter

All other categories (fire, command, physician fly-car, etc.) are not able to transport patients, even if they attend the scene.

Category Override

Any unit can have a Category Override set — a free-text label that replaces the auto-generated display name (e.g. showing "Medic 5" instead of "AMB Type I").
The override is cosmetic only and does not change how the unit is matched to keyword requirements or mission suggestions.

Dispatch Suggestion Logic

Unit categories feed directly into the keyword-based dispatch suggester. Each keyword on a mission type can specify required counts for:

Keyword field	Satisfied by
`DispatchAmountAmbulanceUrgent`	`RTW`, `MZF`, `SRTW`, `NAW`
`DispatchAmountAmbulanceRegular`	`MZF`, `KTW`
`DispatchAmountAmbulanceDoctor`	`NAW`
`DispatchAmountDoctorGround`	`NEF`
`DispatchAmountHelicopter`	Units with the IsHelicopter flag (`RTH`, `ITH`)
`DispatchAmountHelicopterICU`	`ITH`
`DispatchAmountAmbulanceICU`	`ITW`
`DispatchAmountDoctor`	Any unit marked as Suggest As Doctor in unit settings

The suggester fills slots from top to bottom in this priority order. A unit that satisfies multiple slots (e.g. NAW counts as both an urgent ambulance and an ambulance physician) will fill the most specific slot first.