INTO HOSPITAL WITHIN TEN MINUTES.
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Why the City of London Police Use Electric Vehicles in the Rapid Removal of Casualties to, Hospital.
By Capt. H. Lyon Thomson, .111.LE.E.
THE inception of the City of London's ambulance service may be said to date from Janu
ary 15th, 1903. On that date a letter from a citizen calling attention to the want of an efficient ambulance system appeared on the agenda of the Common Council. Mr. Deputy G. H., Heilbuth, who had been agitating in the matter for some years previously, seized on the opportunity, and by considerable insistence carried the reference of the letter to the Police Committee, his name being added to the Committee. The matter was under discussion for a lengthy period, but, eventually, the establishment of a horse ambulance service was decided on.
The self-propelled vehicle had, by this time, advanced sufficiently td induce the'Police Committee to reconsider the matter. This occasioned further delays, and it was not until April, 1906, that all oh. staeles were overcome and, the formation of a motor ambulance service was approved. The erection of stations, the construction of the ambulances, and the installation of the necessary call-boxes occupied another year, so that it was not until May 13th, 1907, that the service was actually put into operation.
The many mechanical mishaps that the petrol-driven vehicle was liable to in the year of grace 1906 were probably the reason for the Corporation's adoption of electricity as the propelling power. But even with the perfection that the petrol motor has now attained, it is doubtful whether the electric ambulance is not the best vehicle for the special requirements of the City's "Square Mile." In the first place, the journeys are extremely short, and are made over first-class road• ways, and there are comparatively few steep inclines. Secondly, the electric vehicle's want of speed is most felt when attempting to pass a quick-moving vehicle. This does not arise in the City, as a passage is always cleared
for the ambulance. When it is stated that the average time from the call being given to. the time that the patient reaches the hospital is 9i minutes, including thee time necessary for first-aid and bandaging, it will be seen that the employment of the fastest machine that it would be practicable to drive through the streets could not. effect more than a few seconds' saving.
The following is a general description of the City's service:— There are two ambulance stations —the Western, situated in Smithfield, near ,St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and the Eastern, situoted in New Street, Bishopsgate. Two ambulances are stationed at New Street, which is fitted up with a British Thomson-Houston motor generator, and serves as the chargiffg station. This station is open continuously, whilst the Smithfield station is closed at night from 10.30 p.m. The ambulance from the latter station is driven to New Street when Smithfield is closed and the batteries recharged during that time. . It has been found that, owing to the diminished • traffic during the night, one ambulance suffices for the requirements of the whole City. The only special staff employed. are the ambulance . drivers—theattendants being drawn from the City Police. It must be a sauce of gratification to the citizens of London to know that practically every constable, who has been sufficiently long in the Corporation's service to enable him to pass the qualifying examinations, holds the proficiency medallion of the St. John Ambulance Brigade. A rester of men who have Shown special aptitude in the work is kept, and these serve in turn as ambulance attendants for the
purpose of rendering first-aid. The drivers also are fully qualified. The _constables detailed for this work de it as part of their regular duty, except in the case of the police officer on night duty, who, to avoid constant change, serves for a month at a time. ..A second driver resides at New Street, so as to be available in case of special emergency..
The signalling arrangements are the .very vitals of an ambulance service, and it would be difficult to devise a, more complete system than that of the City of London. Fifty-two cast-iron call-box pillars are placed throughout
the city. in order to prevent misUse and false calls, they can only be opened by means of a special key which every constable carries. As the callboxes are, as a rule, placed in positions where a policeman is on point duty, there is little delay in effecting a call, which is given by merely pulling a handle. Each box also contains a telephone, which can be used for sending an urgent message to the head office or to give definite instructions.
All calls are transmitted to the police headquar . A call-box p there are 5'
tens in Old Jewry, thence by private wire to the ambulance Stations. Each ambulance reports its re. turn from a journey to the headquarters' operator; who is thus kept continuously informed of their movements, and consequently knows where to assign the next call. Any ambulance driver who wishes to put his ambulance out of action for even a minute or two—as in the ease of having to make some adthe fact to headquarters, so thqt lost through giving a call to en is not actually ready to start on
justment —repo rts no time may be ambulance which the stroke of the bell. justment —repo rts no time may be ambulance which the stroke of the bell.
On looking through the daily records of. the service, one could not help being struck by the absence of that bugbear of a 11 ambulance work— detention of vehicles at hospitals. These delays arise from cases in which it is not considered advisable to remove the patient from the stretcher until an examination can be made. C o n sequently, the ambulance driver has to wait for his stretcher. In the City this
tiouble is overcome by the simple expedient of providing an ample reserve of stretchers. Consequently, when a patient has been carried into the receiving room, he is left there on the stretcher, and the driver collects any stretchers that have been left with previous cases and drives oil at once. The delay so avoided might well be put down as saving the necessity for an additional ambulance.
The ambulances, being nearly 15 years old, do not present many features which are now necessary to detail. They were supplied by the Fleetromobile Co., of Hertford Street, W. The photographs show the general arrangement of the bodies, which are of the door-and-a-half-type. This is, of course, an improvement on the old double-door pattern, but it is
still inclined-to be noisy. However, with the very short time that the patient is in the. ambulance, and the smooth paving, over which it runs, this is no very serious matter. Owing to the door design, the two stretchers have to be carried one over the other, instead of both being at the'seat level. This, again, is not so objectionable; owing to the great stature of the City Police, who may be truly reckoned sons of Anak, no difficulty is found in raising the upper stretcher toCts position. Each ambulance carries what is known as a " miner's jacket "—a stretcher capable of being raised or lowered end-up with an injured person through any narrow opening or window. Ali modern surgical requisites and appliances are provided in the ambulance— with the exception of an oxygen bottle, as the time of the journey is so short as to render its use unnecessary.
Thekscope of the service is to deal with accidents, in-eluding railway accidents, and those arising through fires and the collapse of buildings. • It is co,ntrailed by the Commissioner of Police of the City. Superintendent R. J. Haiford, of the Executive Department, is responsible for its administration, and it is no doubt largely due to this officer's interest in the work that the City of London's ambnlaime service has attained its present high standard ofperfection.
illar, of which 2 in the City.
No better testimony can be given of what this service has
effected in the way of saving life, and alle viating suffering, than by quoting the an nual returns of the number of cases of street accidents a n d street illness
dealt with by the City Police from the year 1915 onwards.
yDeartir 1915 i n g 'the 2,185 1916 1,883 13991187 11,;75a 1919 ... 1,885 1920 ... 131,997