SIV Ambulances' Responder Type II Doesn't Just Pass a Full Battery of Crash Tests — It Dominates
Source: SIV Ambulances
LANGHORNE, Pa. — Over three days at Calspan's crash-testing facility, the SIV Responder was put through sled runs exceeding 24 g, drawing on nine SAE standards across virtually every critical part of the patient compartment. Every cabinet. Every mount. Every direction of impact.
Every test passed, validating the design and engineering behind the SIV Responder.
Then came the most important test: occupant protection.
Using instrumented anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs), Calspan evaluated the SIV Responder's seating and restraint systems under frontal, side and rear-impact conditions. Every tested position passed, well clear of the industry's 1,000 HIC threshold. Zero structural failures were reported.
"Anybody can say they built a safe ambulance. We wanted proof," said Mark Poberezhnyuk, President of SIV's Type II Division. "So, we took the SIV Responder to Calspan and put our design and engineering to the test. Safety isn't optional — and neither is proving it."
SIV’s Entry Into Manufacturing
The results mark the latest milestone for SIV Ambulances, which announced its entry into ambulance manufacturing on Sept. 12, 2026, with the launch of the SIV Responder and Responder XL Type II ambulances.
EMS Input. SIV Engineering.
The testing tells only half the story. The SIV Responder was shaped with direct input from EMS professionals who know firsthand what works — and what doesn’t — inside an ambulance.
One of the biggest contributors was Chief Evan N. Resnikoff, M.S., NRP, of Newtown Emergency Medical Services in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and President of the Bucks County EMS Chiefs’ Association. Chief Resnikoff walked the SIV team through one of Newtown EMS’s existing Type II ambulances, showing the SIV team what worked, what didn’t, and where the layout fell short.
SIV took it from there — developing its own improvements to rear oxygen access, equipment storage and stair-chair access.
One of those improvements became the SIV Rear-O₂™.
Chief Resnikoff liked the accessibility of rear-mounted oxygen but pointed out the downside: crews still had to lift a heavy cylinder from the ground up into the ambulance. SIV took that problem and developed a different solution — mounting the main oxygen cylinder horizontally and allowing it to slide out from the rear.
Rear access. No heavy lift. An SIV solution built around real EMS input.
Then SIV proved it.
At Calspan, the rear oxygen mounting system was put through crash testing — and passed.
“Chief Resnikoff showed us the problem. Our team engineered the solution,” said Sergio Siv, CEO of SIV Ambulances. “Then we put it through crash testing at Calspan. That’s how SIV builds — listen to EMS, build better, then prove it.”
Siv added, “A big thank you to Chief Resnikoff, Newtown Emergency Medical Services and all of the EMS professionals who gave us their time and shared their experience. Their input helped shape the SIV Responder into what it is today.”
About SIV Ambulances
SIV Ambulances is a Pennsylvania-based ambulance brand serving EMS agencies and dealer partners nationwide. SIV's operations include new ambulance manufacturing, ambulance remounting, new and used ambulance sales, service, parts, collision repair and fleet support. SIV has completed more than 500 ambulance remounts and is expanding its new ambulance manufacturing operations with the SIV Responder and SIV Responder XL Type II ambulances.
