"Public safety vehicle" means any of the following:
(a) Ambulances, including private ambulance companies under contract to a municipal corporation, township or county and private ambulances and transport vehicles bearing license plates issued under Ohio R.C. 4503.49;
(b) Motor vehicles used by public law enforcement officers or other persons sworn to enforce the criminal and traffic laws of the State or the Municipality;
(c) Any motor vehicle when properly identified as required by the Ohio Director of Highway Safety, when used in response to fire emergency calls or to provide emergency medical service to ill or injured persons, and when operated by a duly qualified person who is a member of a volunteer rescue service or a volunteer fire department, and who is on duty pursuant to the rules or directives of that service. The Ohio Fire Marshal shall be designated by the Ohio Director of Highway Safety as the certifying agency for all public safety vehicles described in this subsection (c);
(d) Vehicles used by fire departments, including motor vehicles when used by volunteer firemen responding to emergency calls in the fire department service when identified as required by the Ohio Director of Highway Safety.
Any vehicle used to transport or provide emergency medical service to an ill or injured person, when certified as a public safety vehicle, shall be considered a public safety vehicle when transporting an ill or injured person to a hospital regardless of whether such vehicle has already passed a hospital. (ORC 4511.01(E))