London’s ambulance service last week took delivery of 12 new motorcycles which will help paramedics answer 999 calls in central and east London.
All paramedics in the Motorcycle Response Unit take a course in police motorcycle-rider training and the unit, which operates from Waterloo ambulance station, responds to 99 calls from 7am to 11pm every day.
Motorcycle Response Co-ordinator Shaun Rock said: “This is great news for patients in London. The 12 new motorcycles will respond to people dialling 999 for help in areas where traffic congestion and narrow streets mean we can get there faster than a regular ambulance or fast response car.
“We can then assess and start giving life-saving treatment to patients while an ambulance is on the way.
“All the motorcycles carry the same life-saving equipment as ambulances, including a defibrillator – a machine used to restart a patient’s heart when they have suffered a cardiac arrest. Early use of a defibrillator is essential to saving someone’s life.”
John @ Fairings says
February 6, 2009 at 3:17 amI was browsing around searching for info on motorcycles and came across this post, thats an absolutely brilliant idea to have paramedics on motorcycles, I don’t know why they haven’t been doing this long ago! Hopefully they can save a lot of people’s lives.
MotorBattery says
February 19, 2009 at 4:41 amI agree with you John@Fairings. This idea was very good. I hope more country with big cities will do the same.
Thank you.