Scottish Ambulance Service

The Scottish Ambulance Service (Scottish Gaelic: Seirbheis Charbadan-eiridinn na h-Alba) is part of NHS Scotland, and serves all of Scotland. It is a special health board funded directly by the Health and Social Care Directorates of the Scottish Government.

The two main functions of the trust are the provision of a paramedic-led accident and emergency service to respond to 999 calls and the patient transport service (non-emergency service), which performs the role of taking patients to and from their hospital appointments, discharges from hospital and non-urgent transfers.

In 1948 the newly formed National Health Service contracted two voluntary organisations, the St Andrew's Ambulance Association and the British Red Cross, to jointly provide a national ambulance service for Scotland. The service was known as the St Andrew's and Red Cross Scottish Ambulance Service. The Red Cross withdrew from the service in 1967; the service was renamed the St Andrew's Scottish Ambulance Service. In 1974 the service was taken over by the NHS, the title being shortened to the Scottish Ambulance Service.

St. Andrew's First Aid, which is the trading name of St. Andrew's Ambulance Association, continues as a voluntary organisation.

In 2003 there was a reorganisation of the ambulance control centres across Scotland, with eight being merged into three.

The original uniform for the service consisted of a light blue shirt, black clip-on tie, navy blue sweater and black peaked cap with Service crest.

In 1992, the uniform changed to a boiler-suit type uniform, to reflect the practicalities of providing front-line emergency care; and eventually a very similar trouser / shirt combination some time in the 2000s. These uniforms were an Irish green colour for Emergency staff and a light blue shade for Patient Transport staff.

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