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The First Ambulance Service | HistoryNG
The Event The world’s first organized ambulance service is often credited to the work of Napoleon Bonaparte’s chief surgeon, Dominique Jean Larrey, during the Napoleonic Wars. However, a lesser-known yet historically significant service predated Larrey's contributions by several decades. It was established in 1487 by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. This service was designed to evacuate injured soldiers from the battlefield during the siege of Málaga, part of the Reconquista. While Larrey's "flying ambulances" are often celebrated—rightly so, for their innovation in mobility and speed—the Spanish model was revolutionary for its time, considering it was conceptualized as part of a larger military medical corps. This service utilized horse-drawn carts to transport the wounded, with the dual goals of saving lives and maintaining troop morale. It operated under the direct order of the monarchs, reflecting the strategic importance placed on preserving soldiers' lives for the success of military campaigns. A detail often overlooked is the scale and coordination involved in this early Spanish effort. It wasn't merely isolated cart usage; it required logistical planning and dedicated personnel to remove wounded soldiers from active combat zones, stabilize them, and ferry them to makeshift medical facilities. This initial conception can be seen as the harbinger of modern battlefield evacuation units. Thus, while Larrey should be credited for refining the concept with speed and efficiency, it was arguably the foresight and action of the Spanish in 1487 that paved the way toward the systemic approach to battlefield medicine. This predating example challenges the typical historiographical focus on Larrey, highlighting the Spanish contribution that deserves recognition in the annals of medical history. The Context Before the establishment of the first ambulance service in 1792, the world was caught in the tumult of the French Revolutionary Wars. Medical care, especially battlefield medicine, was rudimentary and chaotic. Soldiers injured on the battlefield often lay unattended for hours, sometimes days, exacerbating their wounds and leading to higher mortality. Prior attempts to organize medical retrieval systems during battles were inadequate—haphazard at best—due to lack of structured planning and commitment. Dominique Jean Larrey, a visionary military surgeon in Napoleon Bonaparte's army, is a key figure in this historical shift. His experience...
Ambulance - Wikipedia
A Toyota HiAce ambulance in Japan Mercedes-Benz Sprinter ambulance in Germany An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals.[1] Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medical emergencies by emergency medical services (EMS), and can rapidly transport paramedics and other first responders, carry equipment for administering emergency care, and transport patients to hospital or other definitive care. Most ambulances use a design based on vans or pickup trucks, though others take the form of motorcycles, buses, hearses, aircraft and boats. Ambulances are generally considered emergency vehicles authorized to be equipped with emergency lights and sirens. Generally, vehicles count as an ambulance if they can transport patients. However, it varies by jurisdiction as to whether a non-emergency patient transport vehicle (also called an ambulette) is counted as an ambulance. These vehicles are not usually (although there are exceptions) equipped with life-support equipment, and are usually crewed by staff with fewer qualifications than the crew of emergency ambulances. Conversely, EMS agencies may also have nontransporting EMS vehicles that cannot transport patients.[2] The term ambulance comes from the Latin word ambulare as meaning 'to walk or move about'[3] which is a reference to early medical care where patients were moved by lifting or wheeling. The word originally meant a moving hospital, which follows an army in its movements.[4] Ambulances (ambulancias in Spanish) were first used for emergency transport in 1487 by the Spanish forces during the siege of Málaga by the Catholic Monarchs against the Emirate of Granada. During the American Civil War vehicles for conveying the wounded off the field of battle were called ambulance wagons.[5] Field hospitals were still called ambulances during the Franco-Prussian War[6] of 1870 and in the Serbo-Turkish war of 1876[7] even though the wagons were first referred to as ambulances about 1854 during the Crimean War.[8] The history of the ambulance begins in ancient times, with the use of carts to transport incurable patients by force. Ambulances were first used for emergency transport in 1487 by the Spanish, and civilian variants were put into operation during the 1830s.[9] Advances in technology throughout the 19th and 20th centuries led to modern self-powered ambulances...
Welsh Ambulance Service announces freeze on newly-qualified paramedic recruitment - BBC News
The Welsh Ambulance Service said newly qualified paramedics would not be offered roles this year due to "financial and operational issues".
Inauguration of Helen Ong’s Cancer Patient Services Consul | Philstar.com
Helen Ong, a name that symbolizes hope for cancer patients and their families, has long been at the helm of numerous fundraising efforts, most notably for the Philippine Cancer Society through the Best Dressed Women of the Philippines,
