An ambulance bus is a type of

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

with the capacity to transport and treat multiple

patients A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health c ...

. An ambulance bus is used primarily for

medical evacuation Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

of mass casualty incidents and non-emergency medical transport of care-dependent patients, and can also be used for specific problems such as drunk patients in town centres.

Applications

Mass casualty incident

In the event of a major

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

or evacuation, an ambulance bus can be used to transport multiple patients to the hospital. The vehicle may be equipped with

advanced life support Advanced Life Support (ALS) is a set of life saving protocols and skills that extend basic life support to further support the circulation and provide an open airway and adequate ventilation (breathing). Components These include: * Tracheal in ...

systems. Likewise, during an evacuation in advance of a disaster, an ambulance bus can transfer patients in hospitals and nursing homes to care centers out of harm's way.

Non-emergency transport

An ambulance bus can be used in a transport role to allow stretcher-bound patients to leave the hospital, such as taking excursions or holidays away from the hospital, while still being able to provide the necessary medical care during the journey.

Conversion of existing vehicles

Existing vehicles like buses can be converted into an ambulance bus with the installation of an on-demand ambulance bus kit. On-demand ambulance bus kits are installed inside any available vehicle on an as-needed basis when the need is anticipated in advance, like in the case of hurricanes or planned hospital maintenance. These kits can be installed temporarily or permanently.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambulance Bus

Bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

Buses by type

Applications

Mass casualty incident

Non-emergency transport

Conversion of existing vehicles

See also

References