Our specially-equipped cars allow us to provide a 24 hour service.
Backing up our helicopters are our two Volvo XC90 rapid response cars. The vehicles are activated when the helicopter is unable to fly due to extreme weather or breakdown. They are also used for our 24 hour service in the North-East.
Why does an air ambulance service need cars?
There are two main reasons:
- To allow our clinicians to respond if the aircraft are unable to fly due to breakdown or in extreme weather conditions.
- As part of our 24 hour response, the rapid response vehicles operate every night in the North East, and four nights in Cumbria.
What equipment do the cars carry?
We carry everything that you would find on our aircraft, which means the care the patient receives on scene is the same as would be the case if the helicopter had responded. The difference is that the cars cannot carry patients. However, taking our clinicians to the scene is proven to make a life-saving difference, and through working with our colleagues in the ambulance services, the patient can then be transported safely to hospital.
Making A Difference
Although our Rapid Response Vehicles are not capable of taking patients to hospital, their presence across the region of proven to make a life-saving difference to the people we help.
Approximately 40% of all call-outs we receive are answered with our Rapid Response Vehicles and allow us to provide our service across a 24/7 service, 365 days across the year. Even when our helicopters are not able to respond to an incident, our Rapid Response Vehicles assure that we can still deliver the same world-class standard of care.
Keep us driving
Our cars give us greater flexibility, so we can reach more people in their time of need. You can help keep them driving by making a donation today.