Which vehicles are large enough to carry a stretcher?  The
best vehicles are long MPVs (or people carriers) such as the Chrysler Grand
Voyager, Renault Grand Espace, Mercedes V class or Kia Sedona.  The
shorter wheelbase MPVs such as the Ford Galaxy and VW Sharan are a bit
of  a squeeze for a stretcher.  A van such as a Mercedes Vito
is a cost effective if more basic option. Most estate vehicles are too
short for a trolley stretcher but a folding stretcher could fit with the
front seat pulled all the way forward. |
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Where can I get a stretcher and other ambulance equipment from? 
Ask your local ambulance service for any old stretchers they may have,
or ask them who they sell their old vehicles on to as they often will pretty
much give away second hand equipment.  Alternatively, for the less
frugal, you can buy pretty much everything you need from SP
Services. |
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You need to be insured as an ambulance to carry patients. Insuring
your car as Business use, even for a doctor, is not enough to legally carry
patients.  In fact insuring your car as an ambulance may be much cheaper
than your normal insurance.  Only certain companies do special class
insurance, although you will need to contact me for their details as the insurers were unwilling to let me post their details online.  Beware - you cannot transfer a private
vehicle policy NCD to a special class insurance policy |
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Make sure you specify "any driver" cover.   This means
that if you want to travel with the patient and have someone else drive
your vehicle (such as a police officer or ambulance technician) then they
are covered by your insurance. |
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How do I fit the stretcher? 
I
removed the rear row of seats and the middle row seat behind the driver's
seat.  This just left one seat in the back.  I have my trolley
stretcher semi-permanently fixed in the back.  It is attached to the
floor mountings for the seats that I have removed from the back. 
I used strong load straps to attach it to these mountings.  
Alternatively you can get mountings for the stretcher and have a coach
builder fit it to the floor of the vehicle.  Expensive both at the
time and when you come to sell the vehicle on, but essential if you are
going to use the stretcher frequently for transfers. |
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How do I get the patient in and out of the vehicle?  I
have a carry chair to get people to the vehicle.  If the patient cannot
climb into the back of the car or sit in the carry chair, then I use a
combicarrier
scoop stretcher to carry them into the car.  This requires about
four people to carry a patient safely (I'm not as generous with my back
muscles as the ambulance crews!), so it is only an option if you have plenty
of helpers at the scene (e.g.: the local fire service).  The advantage
of this technique is that you can easily transfer them to another ambulance. |
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Can I register the vehicle with DVLA as an ambulance and avoid road
tax?   Only if you use the vehicle EXCLUSIVELY to transport
patients, although DVLA have told me that GP business use would also qualify
as long as there was no personal mileage. |
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How much does livery cost?
If
you want livery, Signs Express
(offices throughout the UK) can provide a good livery for between £200
and £400.  The livery can be removed again when you want to
sell on the vehicle, although you may have to pay for cleaning of the paint
work.
standard BASICS livery involves reflective red / flourescent yellow
chevrons at the rear and reflective green/yellow stripes at the side. 
Beware - Yellow and green chevrons at the side
have not yet been authorised for BASICS doctor use (check with your local
traffic police for advice).  The only reflective material you may
only use at the back of the vehicle is red and may use any refelctive colour
EXCEPT red on the rest of the vehicle. |
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How much does the light bar cost?   A full size light
bar costs between £300 and £700 depending on what you want. 
Strobes are more expensive than rotating lights but are more easily during
daylight.  You should be able to fit the light bar without having
to drill any holes in your roof.  I screwed mine throught the roof
bars on the car and ran the cable in through the rear passenger side door.
Magnetic mount beacons cost from £40 to £200.  Contact
Premier
Hazard (0113 239 1111) for advice. |
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What is the legality of using green lights?   Any
fully registered doctor can use a green beacon to ease progress though
traffic if responding to a medical emergency call.  I count this as
being any call where the patient is not in a safe environment, there is
the POSSIBILITY of a life or limb threatening condition, or if the patient
is in severe pain, but there is no standard definition.  Using a green
beacon does not grant you the right to break the speed limit or treat a
red light as a give way.  Discuss this with your local traffic police. 
It is very unlikely that they will prosecute you if you are driving SAFELY. 
In fact the most useful thing about green lights is to protect you at the
scene of an incident. |
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Can I use blue lights?   That depends on how your
local traffic police interpret the traffic law (see below). |
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Can I use a siren?   The law on blue lights and sirens
is complicated and outdated.  Police forces differ on their interpretation
of the various laws and clarification is expected in the next year or two. 
Some forces say that if your vehicle is used as an ambulance, even
occasinally, then it can be fitted with blue lights and a siren for use
when it is being used for ambulance purposes (ie: responding to an emergency
call in which it will potentially be used to transport a patient).
However, some police forces interpret the law that only vehicles used
SOLEY for transporting patients can be fitted with blue lights and a siren
(this of course would make Paramedic Response units illegal, but the police
can be very choosy in who they apply the law to!)
There is no provision in law for doctors' cars to use sirens at other
times.  However, many BASICS doctors use sirens with the unwritten
consent of their local Chief Constable. 
Again, discuss this with your local traffic police. |
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Do I need special driver training?   There is no requirement
to have special driver training but I would say that an IAM or ROSPA advanced
driving course is mandatory as a minimum.  Your local traffic police
or ambulance college can arrange further training. |
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Is there any other training that would be useful? A lifting
and handling course would be invaluable, and a week or more spent riding
along with an urban ambulance is also well worth it.  If you are going
to be spinally immobilizing patients without the aid of an ambulance crew
you will need to familiarize yourself with the various extrication techniques
that we tend to leave to the EMTs.  Try and go on a PHTLS course or
talk to your local ambulance training officer.  |
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