The ambulance service is an essential service that helps to save thousands of lives every year. The service provides care for people very quickly and ensures that they get to hospital quickly and safely.
NHS service
The UK ambulance service is split into a number of different trusts, which provide care for NHS patients across the country. Local trusts cater for specific land areas; the ambulances are dispatched from ambulance stations and operate alongside NHS hospitals in that area.
Ambulance trusts are governed by boards, which meet on a regular basis to discuss the performance of the team, talk about any funding and changes in policy and consider new ideas and targets. The ambulance service strives to meet certain targets laid out by the Department of Health and there have recently been a number of changes in the training and recruitment process for crew members. A large amount of money has been invested in improving training, to ensure that optimum standards of patient care can be offered by all ambulance crew members.
Private ambulances
Private ambulances are often used by companies and individual clients and are often found at large entertainment and sporting events. Private ambulances provide care and transportation for both private companies and the NHS.
The role of the ambulance service
Most people associate the ambulance service with emergency situations, flashing lights and screaming sirens. However, the majority of cases involving ambulances actually involve non-emergencies, such as transportation. Ambulances are often used to take patients home after they have been discharged from hospital, take patients to and from outpatients clinics and day centres and take elderly patients and disabled patients to appointments, day care centres and out on trips and excursions.
The emergency ambulance crew is responsible for responding to emergency 999 calls. They are faced with different scenarios every day and can treat patients with a range of health conditions and injuries. Paramedics deal with people from all different walks of life on a daily basis and a normal day can include anything from a serious car crash to a child who has fallen and sprained their ankle.
