Motorcycle ambulance

Motorcycle ambulances are a type of emergency vehicle which either carries a solo paramedic or first responder to a patient; or is used with a trailer or sidecar for transporting patients. Because of its size and performance, a motorcycle ambulance is able to respond to a medical emergency much faster than a car or van in heavy traffic, which can increase survival rates for patients suffering cardiac arrest.

Motorcycle ambulances were used during World War I by the British, French and Americans. At the time the advantages of light weight, speed, and mobility over larger vehicles was cited as the motive for the use of sidecar rigs in this role. The US version had two stretchers arranged one on top of the other. The French ambulance used a sidecar that held a single patient, who could either lie down or sit up.

The British Red Cross Society used an 8 bhp (6 kW) NUT motorcycle with a double decker sidecar like the US version. During testing it needed only a 9 ft (2.7 m) turning area, versus 35 ft (11 m) for a motor car ambulance, and had a lower fuel consumption of 55–65 mpg_‑US (4.3–3.6 L/100 km), compared with 12–17 mpg_‑US (20–14 L/100 km) for car ambulances. Due to lighter weight they were said to be less likely to get stuck and could be pushed out more easily than a large vehicle.

Sidecar ambulances were used in Redondo Beach, California in 1915, stationed at a bath house at a beach resort to reach drowning victims quickly. Prior to using the motorcycle, life guards had to run or row up to several miles along the beach to respond to calls. The Knightsbridge Animal Hospital and Institute, London, was using a sidecar ambulance to transport dogs in 1912, and this mode was still in use in 1937 by the Maryland Humane Society.

In 1993 the Ambulance Service of New South Wales was the first ambulance service in Australia to introduce "Motorcycle Rapid Response Team" crewed with an Intensive care or Mobile intensive care ambulance paramedic. Two BMW K100RT motorcycles were borrowed from the New South Wales Police Force Highway Patrol with riders undertaking the police motorcycle course. At present there are two motorcycle rapid response crews covering the Sydney CBD at any one time utilising Yamaha FJR1300 motorcycles.

...
Wikipedia