Why do we have response cars? - London’s Air Ambulance HD

The reason we have response cars in London is because the aircraft doesn’t fly at night. Or we don’t use it at night. It can fly at night but we don’t use it at night. Because, landing in London during the day is difficult. At night it’s very hazardous because of wires and stuff that we can’t necessarily see. The Skoda’s are the VRS version. Fantastic. Absolutely get across London very quickly. They are comfortable. They can carry the kit.All the cars are video equipped. Inside and outside. And they are safe. They are incredibly safe cars. But they are very fast as well. Phenomenal car. We provide exactly the same service as we do during the day. So during the day we can get to our various points in around 12-14 minutes in the aircraft. At night there is less traffic on the road. And you can get accross London remarkably quick. As long as it’s safe we are allowed to exceed the speed limit. So it’s 30 miles per hour above the speed limit that you are allowed to do. Crossing junctions it’s walking pace. There was a test case recently; What is walking pace? 4 miles per hour. We go through a VDI everyday, Vehicle Daily Inspection everyday. At the beginning of our shift, both in the morning and at night. So the duty team will come in and inspect all the tires, oil, petrol, water, all the kit in the back of the vehicle. They are the drivers responsibility. They sign for that vehicle. So if I sign for that vehicle and there is something wrong with that vehicle it’s down to me. My job is to drive the vehicle. My first priority is my team in the car. I want to get to the patient, absolutely. But there’s no point of us stretching our limits and driving too fast and having an accident and hurting one of our team. I want to go home at night. I want my team to go home at night.