Welsh Ambulance Service or the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust was formed on April 1, 1998 and is the national ambulance service for Wales.
The main quarters is based in H.M Stanley Hospital, St. Asaph, Denbighshire and is spilt into 3 areas which are:
- Central and West Region – located at Ty Maes Y Gruffudd, Cefn Coed Hospital, Cockett, Swansea
- North Region – located at H.M Stanley Hospital, St. Asaph, Denbigshire
- South-East Region- located at Vantage Point House, Ty Coch Ind Est, Cwmbran
The service employs 2,500 staff giving medical/ambulance assistance to 2.9 million Welsh people. It Is also presently investing a lot of resources as part of the 5-year modernization plan.
In addition, the Service provides the following:
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES (EMS)- this aid responds to emergency 999 calls and GP’s urgent calls. Each ambulance is attended by a paramedic and an ambulance technician. The crew responds in Ambulances, High Performance Rapid Response Vehicles or by a 4×4 truck to rescue patients. Moreover, the service is utilizing a customized Ford Focus estate Cars and Volvo Estate Cars. And as a matter of fact, the Service and Mercedes Benz Company has just agreed a 14 million pound contract for a realization of a large fleet containing only the update and state of the art medical and vehicle facilities.
HELICOPTER EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES (HEMS)- there are 3 operational helicopters manned by the Welsh Air Ambulance- heavily customized Red Eurocopter EC135’s and these are distributed in North, Mid and South of Wales. The units are capable of reaching the point of destination within 20 minutes after receiving an emergency call. And each helicopter is constituted of an experienced pilot and 2 Paramedics. Although HEM is not directly supervised by the Service, it still carries Welsh Ambulance Service’s logo, facilities and staffs.
PATIENT CARE SERVICES (PCS)- this service is assigned for the planned care aspect of ambulance work which means to say that it provides basic health care assistance during transfer such as providing oxygen. It deals with the transportation of patients between home and hospitals or some inter hospital transfers.
COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONSDERS (CFR)- they are volunteers trained in elementary first aid, oxygen administration, and the use of Automated External Defibrillator. They proxy the ambulance while it is still on its way.
