Motorcycle ambulance

A motorcycle ambulance is a type of emergency response vehicle which carries either a solo paramedic, emergency medical technician, or first responder to a patient; or may also be used with a trailer or sidecar for transporting patients. Because of its small size and agile performance, a motorcycle ambulance is able to respond to a medical emergency much faster than a car or conventional ambulance vehicle in heavy traffic, which can increase survival rates for critically ill patients, especially those in 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 motorcycles with sidecar 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 NUT motorcycle with a double-deck sidecar similar to the US version. During testing, it needed only a turning area, versus for a motor car ambulance, and had a lower fuel consumption of , compared with 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, lifeguards 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; 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.