More Ambulances Means More Ambulance Driver Training

When an ambulance service purchases vehicles with a goal of increasing the size of its fleet, this typically means there will be new jobs available to drivers and technicians. And where there are more ambulances, there is a greater need for ambulance driver training as well. Perhaps that will be the case now that the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) has been authorised to add as many as 60 new vehicles.

The NWAS is an NHS Trust with a very extensive service area covering the North West of England. The 60 vehicles they plan to add will include ambulances, rapid response vehicles, and emergency vehicles for paramedics. The Trust also intends to hire as many as 400 additional frontline staff to account for a steadily growing caseload.

According to Fleet News UK, the NWAS experienced an 8.1% increase in 999 calls last year and an 11% increase in life-threatening Red calls. Trust officials believe they need to get expansion efforts under way right now to accommodate future projected growth. However, they are not limiting their efforts to simply buying vehicles and adding staff.

NWAS director of operations Derrick Cartwright told Fleet News UK that the Trust would continue exploring other ways to care for patients when transporting them to the hospital in an ambulance is not appropriate. Nevertheless, until those new ways can be discovered and implemented, the NWAS needs more vehicles and the staff to operate them.

Ambulance Driver Training and Licencing

Without looking into the details of the vehicles being purchased by the NWAS through to the end of the year, it is impossible for us to know what types of training and licencing will be required of new hires. Under current regulations, ambulance service workers may need a C1 endorsement on their driving licences in order to work for a service. Ambulance drivers are usually qualified for assistant roles as well as being licenced to operate the vehicle.

In any case, ambulance driver training would be necessary in most cases where the C1 endorsement is required. Training is also a good idea even when that endorsement is not required. Keep in mind that the ‘cargo’ being transported by an ambulance is human cargo; it is far more precious than any kind of consumer good brought in on the back of a lorry. Ambulance drivers need to be trained to provide safe transport to passengers who are already not in the best of health.

The HGV Training Centre is proud to be able to offer ambulance driver training on an individual or fleet-wide basis. Our training programmes are among the best in the business thanks to dedicated trainers and support staff who are experts in their field. All of our training classes are maintained to the highest standards of competency, safety, and professionalism.

We train for all commercial driving licence classes including HGV, PCV, and LGV. We can have you trained and ready to take your licencing test more quickly than you think.

Sources:

Fleet News UK – https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2015/08/17/north-west-ambulance-service-nhs-trust-to-purchase-more-than-60-new-vehicles