actually the ambulance you use for an emergency is called Rettungswagen (RTW), with sirens and emergency lights. It translates to "rescue vehicle/car/wagon". then there's the Krankentransportwagen (KTW) which translates to "sick people transportation vehicle" and is used for planned transports.
Krankenwagen is used colloquially but technically correct (no it's not the best kind of correct), albeit a very unspecific word.
Calling it slang is insane, it's the normal word for 95% of the population. Just because there's a different word in official communication doesn't make it incorrect
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u/Fun-Understanding258 8h ago
In Germany it's called Zwiebelmettwurst, I have that from time to time.