Correction: London EMS Motorcycle

[JimmyPFD 11]

Edited February 3, 2009 by JimmyPFD

[Patch6713 18]

Very visible colors they chose.

Are these similar to the medic motorcycles that were discussed in another thread?

[JimmyPFD 11]

Very visible colors they chose.

Are these similar to the medic motorcycles that were discussed in another thread?

I don't know; but recalling that thread is what prompted me to post it.

[medic25 0]

Cool bike, but the logo on there is London Ambulance Service (the NHS stands for National Health Service). Long mutual aid response to Amsterdam?

[JM15 386]

IT is a cool bike. The crest on the front looks like the english one too. Did u take this picture?

[JimmyPFD 11]

Cool bike, but the logo on there is London Ambulance Service (the NHS stands for National Health Service). Long mutual aid response to Amsterdam?

He posted it on this Facebook page as pics from his Amsterdam trip this week, along with other obvious Amsterdam Pics.

I saw NHS and thought that it might stand for something like Netherlands Health Services. I'll ask him and get back to you.

[mstrang1 213]

The "ambulance", "cappuccino" and "down" are all in English. The national language of The Netherlands is Dutch. Maybe this was at Heathrow on a layover?

[JimmyPFD 11]

You are all correct. He posted it as from his Amsterdam trip but captioned it:

Of course I had to take this picture... It's a London "first responder ambulance". How freakin' cool? Talk about getting to the scene fast...

[NYMedic37 22]

Motorcycle EMS? Kinda' impractical. Can't transport any patients, Can't carry much equipment, might as well just buy another real ambulance rather then waste money on a vehicle that can't transport any patients or very much equipment.

[abaduck 123]

Motorcycle EMS? Kinda' impractical. Can't transport any patients, Can't carry much equipment, might as well just buy another real ambulance rather then waste money on a vehicle that can't transport any patients or very much equipment.

You clearly haven't seen London traffic! And don't forget, in the British system, the fire service do NOT do EMS calls - the ambulance service is a totally separate outfit.

The NHS isn't exactly bursting at the seams with cash... they wouldn't do it if they couldn't make a case for it.

[210 91]

Spent alot of time in the UK while in the USAF. Stepping out of the box, good for them. Could be real practical for London and other populated UK cities. You never know until you try.

Edited February 3, 2009 by 210

[Mark Z 18]

Spent alot of time in the UK while in the USAF. Stepping out of the box, good for them. Could be real practical for London and other populated UK cities. You never know until you try.

It has been used in some US cities that have separate third services and bikes as well, it is a good idea! If gas had stayed at four dollars a gallon you might have seen more US cities trying!

[Monty 35]

Motorcycle EMS? Kinda' impractical. Can't transport any patients, Can't carry much equipment, might as well just buy another real ambulance rather then waste money on a vehicle that can't transport any patients or very much equipment.

How many systems have 'fly-cars'? Don't see those being used for transport - sure you can carry more equipment, but how much does a medic need for 90% of calls? O2, AED, some meds? as others have said, the motor bike is quite effective - especially in congested traffic.

[ny10570 745]

When they were offered to FDNY EMS the biggest knock was you still need 2 medics to carry all of the equipment and couldn't transport. At least with a fly car one medic can carry enough to begin treating just about anything.

[NYMedic37 22]

I've never been a big fan of flycars. There is one local agency in my area that has 4 BLS fly cars and 2 ambulances. This doesn't make much sense to me. I'd rather see additional ambulances and get rid of the fly cars & motorcycles. I can see a need for specialty vehicles where an ambulance can not get thru such as a Gator for off road or a rescue boat.

[Goose 188]

I've never been a big fan of flycars. There is one local agency in my area that has 4 BLS fly cars and 2 ambulances. This doesn't make much sense to me. I'd rather see additional ambulances and get rid of the fly cars & motorcycles. I can see a need for specialty vehicles where an ambulance can not get thru such as a Gator for off road or a rescue boat.

Apt point. 4 BLS fly cars is absolutely pointless. I'm also not sure if a motorcycle is applicable for every day use - but they do things very different from us. I can see it being used at special events, though.

Edited February 4, 2009 by Goose

[Guest TCA-ALS25]

He posted it on this Facebook page as pics from his Amsterdam trip this week, along with other obvious Amsterdam Pics.

I saw NHS and thought that it might stand for something like Netherlands Health Services. I'll ask him and get back to you.

I lived in England for a few months in 2005. The NHS logo that you see on the bike is the British National Heath Services Trust. Its on EVERY EMS unit in Britain. As for the bikes, all I can say is "not me!" You'd hear the siren almost as soon as it was passing you, prob hitting 80 mph+

[Guest]

England is way ahead of us as far as EMS is concerned, They are not ignored they are a Third service. People there recognize the fact that EMS should not be tacked on to another service as a secondary mission. As with other services EMS should do EMS,FIRE should do FIRE and POLICE should do POLICING. They have recognized that each of the 3 services are Unique and should be handled by some one who will put all his energy and time and his/her heart into thier choosen proffesion, This is just one of the many ways our cousins across the pond have passed us by..............

[ny10570 745]

Are you for real? Any "progress" made over there is because the system lives on the verge of collapse. Wait times for an ambulance are regularly over 30 minutes, crews over worked, and hospitals are flooded.

[Guest Invictus]

Motorcycle EMS? Kinda' impractical. Can't transport any patients, Can't carry much equipment, might as well just buy another real ambulance rather then waste money on a vehicle that can't transport any patients or very much equipment.

They've been used in Sydney, Australia for the past 15 years. Very practical in heavy traffic around the CBD to get one advanced paramedics and resus/defib gear etc to a patient whilst a 'proper' ambulance is still en-route. They average a response time of 3 minutes. Try that in a full size vehicle in heavy traffic where ambulances times average at 8 minutes.

They've had great success with heart attack patients etc getting treatment quicker prior to the arrival of other emergency services.

A short YouTube clip showing a ASNSW BMW easily race through congested traffic.

I daresay the UK has had the same success with the motorcyle paramedic concept hence their widespread use.

[Guest fdnyladder10]

Motorcycle EMS? Kinda' impractical. Can't transport any patients, Can't carry much equipment, might as well just buy another real ambulance rather then waste money on a vehicle that can't transport any patients or very much equipment.

Hi guys,

Just to let you know why the NHS, and in particular the London Ambulance Service use motorcycles, and are set to increase the number of single paramedic cars.

A survey was carried out, through the collation of recorded evidence carried out by 'on scene' ambulance crews, over a period of about 5 years.

The findings of this survey were quiet staggering, and showed a trend that didnt change for the whole 5 years.

Its all down to numbers, so to keep it simple, it went like this;

The LAS would be caled to attend 100 calls, using an ambulance, equiped for transport, with a crew of two.

Out of those 100 calls, only about 75 of those calls would involve a person actually needong the ambulance service for genuine reasons.

Out of those 75, only around 40 of those incidents of someone needing assistance, would they have to be transported to hospital.

Out of those 40 incidents of transport, only a staggering 15 would actually need to be transported to hospital by the LAS for genuine medical reasons, the majority could, or even should have been transported by other means.

This trend was continous and did not change, it surprised a lot of people.

So from this, the LAS is reducing the number of fully crewed patient carrying ambulances, and replacing them with single crewed paramedic fast response cars.

This is actually increasing the number of pre hospital care trained units on the streets of London, which can respond quicker and make an on scene assessment of the call before confirming whether an ambulance is needed.

These paramedics can provide life stabilisation and saving pre hospital care until the arrival of an ambulance, which will arrive sooner, becuase their calls are less and more are available.

Bikes are used in central London, where even a car would struggle to get through in the 8 minutes response time stipulated by the medical council.

All calls are colour coded, and a code red call will still get an ambulance automatically dispatched along with the normal paramedic fast response unit, code red been cardiac calls, peadiatric trauma calls, road traffic accidents with entrapment.

The system is in its infancy, but is so far working well. the only drawback appears to be the training for the paramedics, it takes 3 years to become a fully certified paramedic in the UK.

Regards

jarrod