The new WAS 3.5 tonne DCA was officially launched at the Emergency Services Show (ESS) in Birmingham on the 18th September. As expected, this once unachievable vehicle created a great deal of interest within the ambulance market.
The innovative 3.5t ambulance is now production-ready and furthermore, it’s ready for evaluation. John Rumsey, Commercial Manager at WAS UK, comments: “This innovative 3.5t ambulance has been developed as a direct result of Lord Carter’s report and the recently-launched national ambulance specification. The report set out a challenge to all ambulance convertors to provide more innovative designs, which in turn provide a more environmentally-friendly vehicle which lowers whole-life costs into the NHS.”
In order to truly evaluate this new concept against the current national specification, Ambulance Trusts can trial this frontline vehicle within their fleet.
This could be achieved under the NHS Standard Contract Service Condition 39.4: ‘Ambulance trusts can trial the vehicle if they have received written approval from NHS England and NHS Improvement to derogate from the national specification, on an order by order basis, which is subject to a business case from the lead CCG and trust to that effect, clearly outlining the expected benefits and Return on Investment’.
We also aim to have the vehicle evaluated within NHSi’s Innovation Hub with an intention to be included in the national specification.
Tom Howlett, Sales Engineering Manager at WAS UK, explains: “This is very much stage one of the weight reduction ‘journey’ - we are focused on making further savings. Stage one gave us an unladen vehicle weight of 2696Kg with a full tank of fuel, our calculations then include: 450Kg of people (five persons at 90Kg), 245Kg operational medical equipment (Current SWAST Kit) and 30Kg of communications equipment, which totals a combined weight of 3421 kg. We are now confident that we can include a sixth seat in the next iteration of the vehicle.
“Plans are already advanced for stage two of the WAS 3.5t ambulance, the concept is proven on the Fiat base vehicle. Our conversion weight has now opened the door to other OE chassis manufacturers which were recently locked out of the ambulance market because of the national specification’s minimum 4.25t Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW). This enables healthy competition between vehicle manufacturers which is key for NHS efficiency.
“The next WAS 3.5t ambulance will be based on the MAN TGE low frame chassis which will also include a fully automatic gearbox. We are very excited to be working with the commercial supplier of MAN.”
John Rumsey explains: “This weight reduction delivers massive savings of up to 20% on emissions and fuel consumption compared to the average NHS front line fleet. According to our Millbrook tests, this will deliver savings of approximately 2,500 tonnes of CO2 and £1.5 million in fuel savings per annum for a typical NHS front line fleet. We are now working hard to improve these savings while working with other base vehicle manufactures to ensure the UK ambulance market stays competitive and at the forefront of ambulance design.”
All of the WAS UK test data has been independently validated by Millbrook testing ground. Emissions and fuel consumption were compared for normal driving, emergency driving and overall.
Neil Le Chevalier, Executive Officer at South Western Ambulance Trust adds: “In the South Western Ambulance Trust we’d welcome the opportunity to evaluate this innovative new 3.5t vehicle. A lightweight, 3.5t vehicle helps to address the issues we’re facing in the service in the longer term together with improved environmental and safety credentials.”
John Rumsey adds: “The 3.5 tonne DCA is the new vanguard in terms of ambulance design and judging by the results of our recent poll, conducted on social media, more than 60%1 of respondents would like to see the vehicle added to the new ambulance specification. In the future all newly qualified paramedics, technicians and workshop staff will be automatically licensed to drive our vehicles and there will be no need for costly C1 licence tests. We hope that this is a significant development in supporting the NHS recruitment of young paramedics into the Ambulance Service.”
If you’d like to find out more information about the new WAS 3.5 tonne vehicle, please contact wasukinfo@was-vehicles.co.uk, or speak with Tom Howlett on 07496 982199 or 0845 459 2785.
References
1. Twitter poll of 511 people, 62% responded yes to including a 3.5 tonne box in the National Ambulance Specification.
