St John Ambulance chooses Mercedes-Benz
St John Ambulance chiefs in London have once again entrusted Mercedes-Benz ambulances with the task of transporting critically ill children to specialist hospitals in the capital.
Seven new vehicles have been drafted in by St John Ambulance’s London (Prince of Wales’) District, which works in partnership with the Children’s Acute Transport Service (CATS), South Thames Retrieval Service (STRS) and helicopter crews from RAF Search & Rescue to ensure that youngsters receive the best possible care.
Six are based on 5.0-tonne Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 518CDI chassis while the seventh is a 3.2-tonne Vito 120CDI Dualiner van with seating for five – all were supplied by Hatfield dealer S&B Commercials.
Powered by low-emission 184hp Euro 5 V6 engines mated to automatic transmissions, the Sprinters are fitted with state-of-the-art box bodies by German specialist WAS, and comprehensively equipped for use as Paediatric Intensive Care Ambulances.
The Vito boasts a 204hp V6 and is used for additional back-up – one of its first tasks, for example, was to ferry a top medical team from London to the south-west, where they then boarded a helicopter to accompany a critically ill child back to the capital.
CATS is a collaborative initiative by Great Ormond Street, The Royal Brompton and St Mary’s NHS Trusts, dedicated to making intensive care rapidly available to critically ill children predominantly from the North Thames and East Anglia region.
STRS, meanwhile, is based at the Evelina Children’s Hospital and is the result of collaboration between Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Kings College Hospital and St George’s Hospital Paediatric Intensive Care Units. It provides emergency intensive care transportation for sick children in the South Thames area, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and beyond.
RAF crew from Suffolk regularly fly youngsters to London in partnership with CATS, where they are met by a St John Ambulance vehicle and transferred to an intensive care unit.
St John Ambulance’s London District recently retained the contract to carry out the vital work for which it has been responsible since 2004, and for which it has always relied on Mercedes-Benz ambulances.
“St John Ambulance London’s specialist ambulance teams have completed more than 10,000 retrievals since 2004,” says Bradleigh Simms, Commercial Transport Manager for London District. “Over that period our vehicles have proved exceptionally reliable so when we came to replace them we had no hesitation in returning to Mercedes-Benz.”
He continues: “Safety is also crucial to our operation and the Sprinter is the best equipped chassis on the market in terms of its standard active and passive features, which include the latest development of the Adaptive ESP stability system.”
The Paediatric Intensive Care Ambulances are additionally fitted with cameras and incident data recorders that can provide a complete picture of each journey.
