From our beginnings in the late 19th century we have grown to
become the busiest emergency ambulance service in the world.
This is our story.
Starting out
It may be hard to imagine today, but in the 1890s, if you were
injured, it was left to the police, firefighters and even
taxi-drivers to staff a fleet of wheeled stretchers, named
‘litters’, to take patients to the nearest hospital or doctor’s
surgery.
A full-time ambulance service was established shortly before the
turn of the 20th century. The Metropolitan Asylums Board ran
just six ambulance stations, each adjoining the Board’s hospitals
at Deptford, Fulham, Hampstead, Homerton, Stockwell, and Woolwich.
Almost the whole of London fell within a three-mile radius of
one of the stations.
Early on, the ambulance fleet was horse-drawn. The first
petrol-driven ambulance appeared in 1904 and could carry a single
stretcher at up to 15mph.
Major change came in 1930 when the Government
announced proposals for the reorganisation of local government in
England and Wales, including the transfer of responsibilities for
the ambulance service to the county councils. So, on 1 April 1930,
the Board's duties and responsibilities passed to the London County
Council, which also took over responsibility for all the
hospitals.
As the Second World War approached, an
auxillary ambulance service was set up as part of the Government’s
civil defence service. Ennis Smith became a well-known figure for
she was the youngest ambulance driver at the age of just 16. After
the war, she joined London Ambulance Service.
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The National Health Service is born
Post-war reorganisation led to the National
Health Service Act of 1948. As part of this, for the first time,
there was a requirement for ambulances to be available for all
those who needed them.
By now, a more recognisable service was
beginning to take shape. In the 1950s the London County Council’s
ambulance service moved to Headquarters at Waterloo Road, but it
was already clear this wouldn’t be large enough. By the early 1960s
it was agreed a new headquarters would be built further up
Waterloo Road. 'Londam', the Service’s newsletter, described it as
‘the promised land’.
A London-wide service was created in 1965 when
one ambulance service was formed in London from parts of nine
existing services. It comprised nearly 1,000 vehicles and 2,500
staff.
In 1974, when the National Health Service was reorganised,
the London Ambulance Service was transferred from the control of
local government to the South West Thames Regional Health
Authority.
In 1989 staff took part in a nationwide
strike for better pay and working conditions. Every station was
involved with many giving out the phone number of the stations so
that the public could call the crews directly in case of emergency.
After six months of not being paid and living on donations from the
public, a pay deal was reached and the crews went back to work.
In 1992 the failure of a new computer system
led to worldwide public and media interest. The crash of the
computer-aided dispatch system led to long delays in dispatching
ambulances.
Service managers continued to report to South
West Thames until 1 April 1996, when the organisation became
an NHS trust. London Ambulance Service as we know it today
officially came into being.
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A 21st century service
We have many years' experience of
dealing with terrorist incidents in the capital
and responding to major incidents including the King’s Cross
Underground fire of 1987, the Harrow and Wealdstone triple train
crash of 1952, and the various IRA bombings of the 1970s–1990s.
Most recently, our staff were called upon to
put into practice all their planning and training during the London
bombings of 7 July 2005. More than 250 members of staff were
involved with the emergency response to the bombings of three
Underground trains at King’s Cross, Aldgate and Edgware Road, and a
bus at Tavistock Square. They treated more than 400 patients, some
of whom had sustained horrific injuries, giving them the emergency
care and support they needed and clearing all scenes within three
hours.
Just like the capital itself, our Trust continues to grow and
develop. The London Ambulance Service of today, and the skills and
capabilities of our staff, bear little resemblance to the Service
of even 20 years ago. There are now more than 5,000 staff based at
over 70 ambulance stations and support offices across
London.
We continue to see a rise in demand for our
service. In 2009/10 we received 1,480,275 999 calls and in December
2010 we had our busiest week ever. Over one weekend we received
7,499 calls, an increase of 30 per cent compared to an average
weekend. During peak hours, staff were answering well over 500
calls an hour, or eight every minute.
Historically, we have designed our service
around a small number of our patients—those with life-threatening
conditions. We are now turning our attention to our largest group
of patients whose conditions, whilst not life-threatening, still
need medical care. Many of these patients need different treatment
to that offered by an
A&E
department. This could be
treatment at home, referrals to a
GP
or social services, or treatment
elsewhere at minor injuries units or walk-in centres.
The way we respond to calls is changing too.
Our staff now attend to patients in cars, and on motorbikes and
bicycles, as well as in ambulances. This enables us to reach
patients quicker in busy built-up areas. We are increasing
public access to defibrillators—machines used to restart a
patient's heart when it has stopped beating—and are providing
training in how to use this equipment, so that people in the
community can provide life-saving treatment while ambulance staff
make their way to a call.
Looking ahead, we are now preparing for
our biggest challenge yet. The 2012 Olympic Games will require us
to continue to provide day-to-day emergency services to Londoners
whilst also providing medical care to Games-related patients.
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Further reading
If you'd like to learn more about the history
of the London Ambulance Service, you might like to read the
full version of ‘Now & Then: The story of the capital’s
ambulance service’, which was published in August 2008 to mark 60
years of the NHS.
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