Magpas Air Ambulance is growing its fleet of rapid response vehicles as the charity continues to respond to the rising demand for its lifesaving care via helicopter, and by road.
Having evolved from volunteer GPs across Cambridgeshire, responding to devasting road traffic collisions by car in the 70s, Magpas Air Ambulance has always maintained that it's not the mode of transport that makes the difference but instead, ensuring that the right medical care and equipment is delivered to patients as quickly as possible—however that may be.
Due to the wide geography Magpas Air Ambulance is called to, the helicopter is often the quickest way for its specialist medical team to reach critically ill and injured patients. However, factors such as weather and road conditions, light and proximity to incident scenes, can mean it's sometimes more effective to travel to patients by road. Currently, Magpas Air Ambulance responds to emergencies between 7 pm-7 am via rapid response vehicle because the time advantage is often no greater by air at night. And all the cars carry exactly the same kit bags as the air ambulance, meaning the charity's medical team has access to the same hospital-level equipment and drugs they do on board the helicopter.
For these cases, Magpas Air Ambulance is ensuring the service has the best possible rapid response vehicles for the job.
This week, the Cambridgeshire-based charity took delivery of the first of three new rapid response vehicles, expanding its total feet to four. These cars are emergency services specification versions of the hybrid Volvo XC90 SUV, with benefits over a standard road car such as an advanced braking system and larger fuel tank. Additionally, they’re all fitted with the latest emergency light and safety systems, including hands-free communication devices and a sat nav system that is activated by the NHS critical care desks.
Magpas Air Ambulance Clinical Operations Manager and Critical Care Paramedic Andy Smith says, “The visibility of our response vehicles is of paramount importance to the safety of our clinical teams and public, especially when responding in the hours of darkness. We have specially designed our livery to be highly reflective and increased the emergency lighting installed on all the vehicles, as well as further enhancing the emergency siren to warn other road users of our presence. We hope people across Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and further afield will be able to spot these new Magpas Air Ambulance cars on the road, just as they do our helicopter in the sky.”
The full new fleet of cars—made possible with funding from the HELP appeal and support from Cambridgeshire-based company Triple9—will be fully operational by spring 2025 and sport the same orange, white and green livery as the new Magpas Air Ambulance helicopter (which touched down last autumn), making the charity easily recognizable on the road or in the air as the lifesaving team respond to emergency calls 24/7.
