It is the best or nothing for the patients from the English South East Coast. The ambulance service has recently purchased Mercedes-Benz vehicles to serve in emergency critical cases.
The South East Coast Ambulance Service counts on Mercedes-Benz vans to get to their patients in time and to provide them the best care possible. The service has a fleet of 300 emergency vehicles, based on the 5-tonne Sprinter chassis.
They have been recently supplied with additional vehicles for their missions:
- Four critical care ambulances based on the same chassis and body as the standard accident and emergency units, but supplied with the additional equipment to attend seriously ill patients.
- 37 Vito 116 CDI, with a layout featuring a second row of seats, that allows patients to be treated for minor injuries rather then being transported and admitted into hospital.
- Five Sprinter 419 CDI vans dedicated to the learning experience, especially converted for those that are involved in the Driver Training program, including video cameras and high-tech telematics.
- Three Logistics Support Units also based on Sprinter 419 vans, all fit to transport medical equipment and pharmaceutical supplies in between care units or drug stores.
- 14 Compact 109 CDI Citan-s that provide logistics support and sometimes used as “first responders” in emergency situations. The paramedics riding those are supposed to assess the patient, initiate treatment and decide subsequent actions. It is the first time for the English to offer such service.
Since all the ambulance rides are nothing but tight races against time, the head of fleet operations for the South East Coast ambulance service, Justin Wand, explains why Mercedes-Benz models were the vehicles of choice to run from one emergency case to the next one: “While acknowledging the need for vehicles of different sizes, we also wanted to standardize on a consistent, reliable platform. Mercedes-Benz was the obvious partner. We already know that taking accounts of factors such as fuel economy, reliability and maintenance, the Mercedes-Benz products represent better value than those of its competitors.”
