Long before ambulances became rolling intensive-care units, Columbus sent a 20-foot gold-and-white motor home directly into the danger zone of a heart attack. The 1969 Heartmobile carried an ECG, two defibrillators, oxygen and emergency medicines, but its biggest contribution was proving that advanced cardiac care could begin before a patient reached the hospital.
During its first seven months, the vehicle answered 500 coronary calls and often reached scenes within 15 minutes, according to WOSU Public Media. Researchers also recorded two successful resuscitations among 160 additional calls involving people who appeared to be dead, giving Columbus an unusually powerful case study for prehospital medicine.
The project grew from a partnership between the Columbus Division of Fire and The Ohio State University Medical Center. Ohio State says the Heartmobile was the first vehicle of its kind in the United States, bringing the equipment and expertise of a hospital coronary care unit to patients in the field.
The real breakthrough came when doctors realized specially trained firefighters could provide advanced treatment without a physician riding along. As WOSU reports, Columbus incorporated the Heartmobile into the fire division in 1971, while Ohio State helped create a paramedic curriculum modeled on the training given to coronary care nurses. Pittsburgh’s Freedom House Ambulance Service had already produced the country’s first paramedics, but Columbus helped establish the fire-based model that became familiar across the nation.
From Experimental Van To Firehouse Standard
The Heartmobile was stationed in a small campus garage nicknamed the Heart Shack, where firefighters trained in electrocardiography, resuscitation and other advanced skills. The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center still describes the program as a landmark project that showed both the value of out-of-hospital resuscitation and the ability of firefighters to deliver sophisticated emergency care.
The original van’s career did not end when newer ambulances arrived. The Central Ohio Fire Museum says it was replaced in 1972, later served as a recruiting vehicle and Honor Guard transport, and was eventually rescued from a salvage yard before volunteers began an extensive restoration.
That preservation work now sits within a broader city-backed effort to protect Columbus’ firefighting history. Columbus City Council approved a $200,000 grant in April 2026 for renovations and restoration at Engine House No. 16, home of the Central Ohio Fire Museum, with the stated goal of expanding educational opportunities and preserving the historic site.
The Heartmobile’s technology has long since shrunk into equipment carried by ordinary ambulances, but its operating philosophy remains visible in Columbus today. The Columbus Division of Fire says its engine companies now function as Medic-Engines, arriving with paramedic training, defibrillators, oxygen, IV supplies and cardiac drugs.
Where Columbus Keeps Its EMS Origin Story
The fully restored Heartmobile is displayed in the machinist shop behind the museum and is available during the museum’s 2:15 p.m. tour, according to the Central Ohio Fire Museum. It may look like an unusually large vintage van, but the vehicle represents the moment Columbus helped move emergency medicine out of the hospital and onto the street.
