Scilly Isles Ambulance Service alongside Tresco quay

The water

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 ...

is a

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

used for emergency medical care in island areas such as the city of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, Italy, the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of th ...

, UK or the

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and th ...

fjords.

Dubai

Dubai Ambulance Foundation has launched the "maritime ambulance project" in 2015 and it is improving it to eight ambulances scattered throughout the state in the next years. Dubai water ambulances or marine ambulances as they call them are stuffed with the latest advanced emergency equipment and automatic CPR.

Sweden

Crews on Swedish water ambulances are normally made up of three persons, including a pilot (sailor) and at least one specialist nurse (usually ambulance, intensive care, or emergency care). The third in the crew can be an undergraduate nurse, or alternatively an ambulance healthcare provider. The medical staff are also trained crew members on the ship.

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a ...

got its first maritime emergency in 2008. The vessel covers Gothenburg's southern archipelago, and is based in

Öckerö Öckerö () is an island and a locality and the seat of Öckerö Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's ...

United Kingdom

In the UK more precisely in the isles of Scilly there is a water ambulance named "Star of Life" launched in 2003 by the

South Western Ambulance Service The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) is the organisation responsible for providing ambulance services for the National Health Service (NHS) across South West England. It serves the council areas of Bath and North East ...

. On board an emergency medical technician and a pilot. The Star of Life replaced the previous vessel "Santa Warna".

Italy - Venice

Venetian water ambulances, which are part of the Venetian

Emergency Medical Service Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...

(''SUEM''), are 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 i ...

equipment, such as an automated respirator, a monitor-

defibrillator Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a ''cou ...

, and

pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and r ...

, amongst other things. The boat crew is made up of an emergency care nurse, two emergency first level medical care technicians to bring patients on and off board, and a water ambulance pilot. In life-threatening calls, classified as code red, an emergency physician gets on board with the rest of the crew. Non-emergency patient transport water ambulances are equipped with

basic life support Basic life support (BLS) is a level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries until they can be given full medical care by advanced life support providers (paramedics, nurses, physicians). It can be pr ...

equipment and are crewed by two or more volunteers from the Mestre Green Cross or a private company, such as the Blue Cross. All water ambulances are equipped with blue flashing lights, siren, two way radio and radar. Emergency water ambulances are noticeable by the emergency medical phone number 118 printed on each side.

References

{{Emergency medical services Ambulances

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 ...