A GENERAL-PURPOSES AMBULANCE.
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ALTHOUGH the motor ambulance had for all practical purposes displaced its horsed prototype before the war and had become an integral part of municipal and hospital service, it, is largely due to the diversified eXperience gained during the war that. thepresent type of ambulance owes much of its interesting design. .So far as the general construction is concerned, the presentday motor ambulance is very much Eke that whirl was in use six Or seven years ago, but many new detailed ideas have been incorporated in the internal fittings and arrangements which all tend to alleviate the discomfort of the ill or injured person.
The_ body ofthe vehicle which we illustrate herewith is the outcome of experi
ence gained during the war. It was designed by Mr. E. M. Tailby, of Tailby and Tyler, Ltd., of Charlotte Street, Birmingham, who are the Birmingham agents for Melchior, Armstrong and Dessau (London), Ltd., who supplied the 15 cwt. Stewart chassis to which the body is fitted.
The vehicle, which was built for the Guardians of the city of Birmingham ler the Dudley Road Hospital, is really an ambulance and general-purposes vehicle, for the seats which run along the body sides can be made to fold up, thus providing floor space for the accommodation of provisions, laundry; etc.
When the seats are dropped, the vehicle becomes a good conveyance for convalescent patients, and, as shown in
one of the pictures, there is•room for the conveyance of a .stretcher case by placing the stretcher on the floor of the ve.hicle between the IOngitudinal seats.
The body, of -the vehicle is built, entirely of English ash and mahogany. The side windows which are fitted are fixed, ventilation being obtained from the front windows and the driver's cab, a through current of air being maintained between -the front of the vehicle and the Tear, the back doors being fitted with hit-and-fall windows. . These . doors are provided with secret locks—a very desirable safeguard in view of the fact that the vehicle is fre.quently used for the conveyance of children'. The near-side entrance dentis the only one which is capable of being opened 'from the inside.