Buzz of excitement: driver Mamdouh Selimanwith Croydon’s new electric ambulance
The local NHS trust has started using the area’s first purpose-built electric ambulance, beginning its replacement of petrol and diesel ambulances with more environmentally friendly ones.
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust says that this represents “an important milestone in the NHS’s ambitious goal to become the world’s first carbon ‘net zero’ national health service by 2040”.
The ambulance, run for the Trust by patient transport service HATS, is working throughout Croydon, helping patients who require non-emergency transport to and from the hospital.
The eco-friendly ambulance has already transported over 250 patients, travelling a total of 1,400 miles, and prevented 430kg of emissions from polluting the environment.
Behind the wheel is ambulance care assistant Mamdouh Seliman. He said, “This ambulance is great. It’s so quiet and smooth that passengers joke we aren’t moving at all!
“People who have a wheelchair or other needs find it comfortable and spacious, too.
Converted: Mamdouh Seliman has gone and bought himself an electric car now, too
“It’s because of this experience that I just bought an electric car for my family. Once you drive electric, you might not look back.”
Matthew Kershaw, the Trust’s chief executive, said, “Our ambitious target to be carbon net zero by 2040 is vital. When our patients get better they need a healthy environment to return to. Everyone deserves this, everyone can make a difference, and large organisations like ours can help lead by example with every positive change we make.
“A comfortable journey at the right time is also fundamental to patients’ experience of the NHS, so it’s great to hear passengers praising their journeys in the new ambulance.”
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Is it an ambulance or is it a minibus? I plump for the later as it’s used solely for passenger transport. Look inside a real ambulance and see how much electricity is actually needed to power its sometimes life and death equipment. That has to be generated somehow and sadly the only way (to this non-technical brain) currently it has to be powered by an old fashioned engine.
But arguably we are starting to go in the right direction.