Unlike the fictional Mayfair Ambulance service used in Los Angeles to transport patients to the hospital after being seen by the Squad 51 paramedics, the Shepard Ambulance company was real, and was used under contract by the City of Seattle to transport patients when the four Medic One rigs in Seattle were too busy on calls to be able to transport every patient. The Shepard ambulance shown on the Ferry Klickitat during the explosion was a real ambulance, and visually was better-equipped than the Medic One unit shown in the movie. Shepard was bought by a national ambulance company, AMR, in 1995, but classic Shepard ambulances are still kept in storage at AMR's headquarters and used in parades and for special events. Former Shepard ambulance workers who still work for AMR call themselves the Blue Dogs.