What types of ambulances are there? Notifications. Revelations of an emergency doctor: death, dangerous patients and saved lives

The color scheme of ambulances - white with red - was first established by GOST of the USSR in 1962.

Since 1968, according to GOST, an orange flashing light has been installed on ambulances. Unlike the blue beacon (the modern “flashing light”), it did not provide advantages over other road users.

The fastest ambulance in Soviet history and among production cars was the Volga GAZ 24-03, whose maximum speed was 142 km/h, which is 2 km/h more than the ZIL-118M Yunost special bus with a V8 engine.

In the 1970s, RAF-22031 minibuses were the first to receive a blue flashing light on the roof. Due to confusion with GOST standards, similar UAZs (“tablets”) were produced for more than 10 years with an orange beacon.

The fashion of putting inscriptions on the fronts of emergency vehicles in a mirror image came from the West. The driver of the car ahead could read the inscription in the mirrors in normal form and give way.

According to reviews from veteran ambulance drivers, the most reliable medical vehicles were modifications of the Volga GAZ-22. Traveling a million kilometers in 8-10 years was commonplace for them.

An ambulance siren differs in tone from both a police siren and a fire siren. Cars such as ZIM, Pobeda and Volga GAZ-22 were not equipped with sirens.

Single emergency telephone number medical care“03” was introduced throughout the USSR in 1965, simultaneously with emergency numbers for the police and fire department.

We often see them on city streets. Disaster medicine vehicles or simply ambulances. Few people have seen them from the inside, usually the doctors and patients themselves. But a patient in an intensive care unit usually doesn’t care about the interiors and equipment if he were alive, and doctors are also reluctant to show pictures of the inside. But it's interesting.

So let's go inside as a reader. Better to look now than later.
Here is a car for resuscitation teams. Next is the equipment.


Lots of light, lots of space. If desired, the car can serve two victims on the road at once.
Patients enter the car from the back doors, so let's go from the side ones.


The left side of the intensive care vehicle is completely occupied by medical equipment, equipment and medicines.


All free space is used, for example, there are neck straps on the handrail, and an electric blanket hangs on the right.


A resuscitation monitor connects to the patient and displays information, pulse, heartbeat, temperature and several other parameters. Did you see it in the movies? The cap is placed on the finger and the patient is under control.


An artificial lung ventilation device, it is like an on-board one, but it can also be used autonomously; there are cases when it is necessary to perform mechanical ventilation on a person locked in a car.
And at the bottom right you can see a syringe dispenser. Not all medications can be administered in a stream and quickly or by drip.
Here a syringe is inserted and the medicine enters the body at a certain speed. Doctors are busy with the patient at this time.


Defibrillator monitor. Well, everyone has definitely seen him in the movies. Using a defibrillator, you can also take a cardiogram.


Anesthesia-respiratory apparatus. It's also portable.


Doctors call this device a “one-room apartment” - it costs the same.
Ventilator LTV-1200. Can work completely autonomously, does not depend on a compressed oxygen cylinder, like the ventilator above.
The LTV-1200 produces breathing air immediately.


There is one more interesting thing, a pain stress detector that is still rare in Russia.
The device can determine whether a person is in pain, even if he is under anesthesia, or unconscious. You can connect it and see if the anesthesia can be strengthened.
Exhaled air gas analyzer. Almost a chemical laboratory. You can determine what a person was poisoned with and what help to provide.
Intraosseous access system. It is not always possible to give an injection into a vein. Veins can hide under low pressure, and the patient can also be pinched somewhere.
To do this, you can quickly and reliably inject medications directly into the bone.


Red resuscitation case, there's a lot of stuff in there.


Everything for injections, everything is at hand.




There is also an obstetric kit, the guys can freely deliver babies. There are toxicology kits, in case of poisoning, rinse the stomach and so on.
Surgical instruments. Quickly sew, cut, mend. Sets for tracheostomy and pleural puncture


Well, and besides, tires, blankets, cylinders with oxygen, nitrogen and other things, a couple of shelves with medicines, several suitcases of what was not shown. In general, there is a lot of things, but I don’t advise you to use it all! Take care of yourself!

People have been sick for centuries, and have been waiting for help for centuries. Oddly enough, the proverb “Thunder does not strike - a man does not cross himself” applies not only to our people. The creation of the Vienna Voluntary Rescue Society began immediately after the catastrophic fire in the Vienna Comic Opera Theater on December 8, 1881, in which only 479 people died . Despite the abundance of well-equipped clinics, many victims (with burns and injuries) could not receive medical care for more than a day. Professor Jaromir Mundi, a surgeon who witnessed a fire, was at the origins of the Society. Doctors and medical students worked as part of the ambulance teams. And you can see the Vienna ambulance transport of those years in the photo.

The next Emergency Station was created by Professor Esmarch in Berlin (although the professor is remembered rather by his mug - the one for enemas...:). In Russia, the creation of an ambulance began in 1897 in Warsaw. Naturally, the appearance of the automobile could not pass by this area of ​​human life. Already at the dawn of the automobile industry, the idea of ​​using self-propelled wheelchairs for medical purposes appeared. However, the first motorized “ambulance stations” (and they apparently appeared in America) had... electric traction. Since March 1, 1900, New York hospitals have used electric ambulances.

According to the magazine "Cars" (No. 1, January 2002, the photo dates from the magazine in 1901), this ambulance is an electric car Columbia (11 mph, range 25 km), which brought US President William McKinley to the hospital after assassination attempts. By 1906, there were six such machines in New York.

In Russia, they also realized that ambulance stations need cars. But at first, horse-drawn “carriages” were used.

It is interesting that from the very first days of the Moscow Ambulance, a type of team was formed that has survived with slight “variations” to this day - a doctor, a paramedic and an orderly. There was one carriage at each Station. Each carriage was equipped with a stowage bag containing medicines, instruments and dressings.

Only officials - a policeman, a janitor, a night watchman - had the right to call an ambulance. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the city has partially subsidized the operation of ambulance stations. By mid-1902, Moscow within the Kamer-Kollezhsky Val was served by 7 ambulances, which were located at 7 stations - at Sushchevsky, Sretensky, Lefortovo, Tagansky, Yakimansky and Presnensky police stations and the Prechistensky fire station. The service radius was limited to the boundaries of its police unit. The first carriage for transporting women in labor in Moscow appeared at the maternity hospital of the Bakhrushin brothers in 1903. Nevertheless, the available forces were not enough to support the growing city. In St. Petersburg, each of the 5 ambulance stations was equipped with two double carriages, 4 pairs of hand stretchers and everything necessary to provide first aid. At each station there were 2 orderlies on duty (there were no doctors on duty), whose task was to transport victims on the streets and squares of the city to the nearest hospital or apartment. The first head of all first aid stations and the head of the entire matter of first aid in St. Petersburg under the Committee of the Red Cross Society was G.I. Turner. A year after the stations opened (in 1900), the Central Station arose, and in 1905 the 6th First Aid Station was opened. By 1909, the organization of first (ambulance) care in St. Petersburg was presented in the following form: The central station, which directed and regulated the work of all regional stations, also received all calls for emergency assistance.

In 1912, a group of doctors of 50 people agreed to go free of charge when called by the Station to provide first aid.

In 1907, the factory of P.A. Frese - one of the creators of the first Russian car - exhibited an ambulance of its own production on a Renault chassis at the International Motor Show in St. Petersburg.

A vehicle with a body made by Ilyin (designed by Dr. Pomortsev) on a La Buire 25/35 chassis, suitable for both transporting patients and for surgical care in a military hospital.

In St. Petersburg, 3 ambulances from the Adler company (Adler Typ K or KL 10/25 PS) were purchased in 1913, and an ambulance station was opened at Gorokhovaya, 42. Bolshaya German company Adler, which produced a wide range of cars, is now in oblivion.

The ambulance bodies for the Petrograd IRAO detachment were made by the well-known crew and body factory "Iv. Breitigam"

Ambulance La Buire

With the outbreak of the First World War it was necessary ambulances. Moscow car enthusiasts (from the First Russian Automobile Club in Moscow and the Moscow Automobile Society), and volunteers from other cities too (on the right - photo of Russo-Balta D24/35 of the Petrovsky Voluntary Firefighting Society from Riga) formed sanitary columns from their cars converted for medical needs, organized at collected funds infirmaries for the wounded. Thanks to cars, tens, if not hundreds of thousands of lives of Russian army soldiers were saved. Only motorists of the First Russian Automobile Club in Moscow from August to December 1914 transported 18,439 wounded and injured from train stations to hospitals and infirmaries.

In addition to the Russian sanitary detachments, several foreign volunteer sanitary detachments operated on the eastern front. The Americans showed great activity. In the photo on the left are Ford T cars of the American ambulance squad in Paris. Pay attention to the uniform of the people gathered for the war - white shirts, ties, boaters.

Pierce-Arrow cars (Pierce-Arrow 48-B-53) with the inscription "in the name of H.I.V. Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna American detachment. American Ambulance in Russia." The photographs give an idea of ​​the number of ambulances used for medical support of military operations in those years.

French and English volunteer sanitary columns also operated on the eastern (Russian) front, and a sanitary detachment of the Russian Volunteer Corps operated in France.

In the photo is an English Daimler Coventry 15HP with the inscription Ambulance Russe on board

Renault, on the right is the English ambulance Vauxhall, which was also supplied to Russia.

Unic (Unic C9-0) of the French Red Cross in Odessa, 1917 (a driver in a French military uniform), a Russian soldier stands in a group of people.

Ambulance vehicle of the Russian army Renault (Renault)

After the revolution, old or captured equipment was initially used.

In the first post-revolutionary years, automobile ambulance transport was provided not only to the ambulance station, but also to hospitals, as well as the Petrograd fire brigade. The goal is obvious - to speed up the provision of medical care to fire victims. Unidentified car make in a photograph from the 1920s.

In the first years after the revolution ambulance in Moscow served only accidents. Those who were sick at home (regardless of severity) were not served. Paragraph emergency care for suddenly ill people at home was organized at the Moscow ambulance in 1926. Doctors went to the patients on motorcycles with strollers, then on passenger cars. Subsequently, emergency care was separated into a separate service and transferred under the authority of district health departments.

Since 1927, the first specialized team has been working at the Moscow ambulance - a psychiatric team, which went to the "violent" patients. Subsequently (1936) this service was transferred to a specialized mental hospital under the leadership of a city psychiatrist.

It is obvious that it was impossible to cover the needs for sanitary transport of such a huge country as the USSR through imports. With the development of the domestic automotive industry, cars from the Gorky Automobile Plant became the basic machines for installing specialized bodies. In the photo - sanitary car GAZ-A in factory tests. Whether this car was mass-produced is unknown.

The second chassis suitable for conversion for ambulance needs in the 30s was the GAZ-AA lorry. The cars were converted into specialized bodies in many unknown workshops. The photo shows an ambulance from Tula.

In Leningrad, it seems that the GAZ-AA was the main ambulance in the 30s of the twentieth century (left). In 1934, the standard body of the Leningrad ambulance was adopted. By 1941, the Leningrad ambulance station consisted of 9 substations in various areas and had a fleet of 200 vehicles. The service area of ​​each substation averaged 3.3 km. Operational management was carried out by the staff of the central substation.

The Moscow ambulance also used GAZ-AA. And at least several varieties of the machine. On the left is a photo dated 1930. Perhaps this is a Ford AA).

In Moscow, the conversion of a Ford AA into an ambulance was carried out according to the design of I.F. German. The front and rear springs were replaced with softer ones, hydraulic shock absorbers were installed on both axles, rear axle It was equipped with single wheels, due to which the car had a narrow rear track. The car did not have its own name or designation.

The increase in the number of substations and calls required an appropriate fleet of vehicles - fast, spacious and comfortable. The Soviet limousine ZiS-101 became the basis for the creation of an ambulance. The medical modification was created at the plant according to the project of I.F. German with the active assistance of doctors A.S. Puchkov and A.M. Nechaev.

These machines worked in the Moscow ambulance service even after the war.

The specifics of the work place special demands on the ambulance. A specialized vehicle was designed and built in the Moscow ambulance garage.

Before the war, specialized GAZ-55 vehicles (based on the GAZ-MM truck - a modernized version of the GAZ-AA with a GAZ-M engine) were developed and, from 1937 to 1945, a branch of GAZ (since 1939 it became known as the Gorky Bus Plant). The GAZ-55 could transport 4 recumbent and 2 sedentary patients, or 2 recumbent and 5 sedentary or 10 sedentary patients. The machine was equipped with a heater powered by exhaust gases, and ventilation system.

By the way, you probably remember the ambulance in the film "Prisoner of the Caucasus". It was her driver who swore: “I wish I could get behind the wheel of this vacuum cleaner!” This is a GAZ-MM with a homemade sanitary body.

In total, more than 9 thousand cars were produced. Unfortunately, not a single one was left alive.

The history of medical buses is interesting - most often converted from mobilized passenger transport in cities. On the left is a ZIS-8 (bus on a ZIS-5 chassis). ZIS produced these buses only in 1934-36; later, buses based on the plant’s drawings were produced on the chassis of ZIS-5 trucks by many enterprises, bus depots and body shops, in particular, the Moscow Aremkuz plant. The 1938 ZIS-8 bus shown in the photo, owned by the Mosfilm film studio, was filmed in the film “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed.”

ZIS-16 city buses were also based on the ZIS-5 chassis. A simplified modification - a medical bus - was developed before the war and was produced since 1939 under the name ZIS-16S. The car could transport 10 bedridden and 10 sitting patients (not counting the driver's and nurse's seats).

In the first post-war years (since 1947), the basic ambulance vehicle was the ZIS-110A (a sanitary modification of the famous ZIS-110 limousine), created at the plant in close collaboration with the heads of the Moscow Ambulance Station A.S. Puchkov and A.M. Nechaev using the experience accumulated in the pre-war years. It can be seen that the back door opened along with rear window, which is much more convenient than it was on the ZIS-101. A box is visible to the right of the stretcher - apparently, its “regular place” was provided there.

The car was equipped with a six-liter eight-cylinder in-line engine with a power of 140 hp, thanks to which it was fast, but very voracious - fuel consumption was 27.5 l/100 km. At least two of these cars have survived to this day.

In the 50s, GAZ-12B ZIM cars came to the aid of ZIS vehicles. Front seat separated by a glass partition; in the rear of the cabin there were a retractable stretcher and two folding seats. The six-cylinder GAZ-51 engine in its boosted version reached a power of 95 hp, was somewhat “faster” in terms of dynamic qualities than the ZIS-110, but consumed noticeably less gasoline (A-70, which was considered high-octane in those years) -18, 5 l/100 km.

There was also a medical modification of the famous “Victory” GAZ-M20.

A folding stretcher was located somewhat obliquely in the car. The left half of the rear seat back could recline, freeing up space for a stretcher. A similar design is used to this day. The main urban ambulance vehicle (so-called linear) in the 1960s was the specialized RAF-977I vehicle (produced by the Riga automobile factory on Volga GAZ-21 units).

In different living conditions, people have to be saved in different ways. And if in Russia this function is performed mainly by ambulances, then in Europe and the USA everything is much more interesting. Only strange and unusual ambulances are born there. I present to your attention 11 of the most unusual medical ambulances, created to save people's lives in different conditions.

Renault Alaskan

At this year's commercial vehicle exhibition in Hannover, the Renault Pro+ division presented several modifications of the Alaskan pickup truck, including an ambulance. The medical version of the Renault Alaskan pickup truck is just a concept, so it is not known whether anyone will see it on the road, rushing to the rescue or not.

The following were also demonstrated at the exhibition: Renault versions Alaskan: fire truck, pick-up truck and patrol vehicle road safety. All modifications, including the ambulance, are based on the one-ton Alaskan with a crew cab.

Ford F-Series

In the United States, pickup trucks have been rebuilt for medical needs for quite some time. An example of this is the Ford F-Series pickup truck.

By the way, in the USA, F-Series pickups are used by all firefighters, construction teams, road services, electricians and others.

Citywide Mobile Response

There is nothing special about this ambulance, but the same cannot be said about the interior of the car. This is probably the most luxurious emergency room in the world.

The interior, trimmed in leather and mahogany, boasts Wi-Fi, digital TV, an audio system, a bar, a massage therapist and a personal doctor. This pleasure is provided by Citywide Mobile Response. For these services they ask from $350 per hour.

Renault Twizy Cargo

Ambulance - extremely useful invention. But very often the very concept of an ambulance provides for the presence of space for transporting a person. But this unit definitely won’t accommodate. But there are often cases when a patient does not need to be taken anywhere, but simply needs timely assistance. The electric sanitary Renault Twizy Cargo was built in order to deliver a doctor as quickly as possible to provide first aid.

The medical version is based on Twizy Cargo, which lacks back seat, and instead it is equipped with a special trunk with a volume of 180 liters to accommodate the necessary equipment for providing first aid.

Renault Master

There's basically nothing special about this Renault Master medical van. It is equipped with conventional diesel engine power 118 hp The exception is that Sebastian Vettel himself recently raced on it.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel tried his hand at driving a Renault Master ambulance with a 118 horsepower diesel engine. At the same time, ambulance driver Alex Knapton, who has 1,354 calls to his name, tested the 670-horsepower Ferrari 488 GTB for the first time in his life to see if he could be faster than the 4-time world champion. The victory went to Vettel, who drove one lap in the Master faster than Knapton in the Ferrari, seven seconds faster.

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

And this is probably the fastest ambulance in the world. Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Emergency Medical is equipped with a 6.3-liter V8 developing 571 horsepower and 650 Nm of torque. The German front-engine supercar accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds and has a top speed of 317 km/h.

The SLS AMG, modified as an ambulance, received the appropriate coloring and flashing beacons according to all the laws of the genre. What is on board the medical supercar is unknown.

Lotus Evora

The Dubai police fleet has long been known for the presence of exotic sports cars. They also made a truly “ambulance” ambulance. The emergency medical vehicle based on the Lotus Evora sports car is not intended for prompt transportation of patients to medical institutions. The modified supercar is used to urgently transport medical equipment, such as defibrillators or oxygen bags, to the scene of an accident.

Coupe, developing maximum speed more than 260 km/h, will allow doctors to get to victims as quickly as possible to provide first aid.

Nissan 370Z

Dubai doctors also have a Nissan 370Z in their fleet. Like the Lotus Evora, it is equipped with medical equipment. And there is no talk about transporting patients here either.

The fast Nissan 370Z is equipped with a 3.7-liter petrol V6 with 325 hp. The engine can be paired with either a seven-speed automatic or a six-speed manual transmission.

Ford Mustang

In addition to the Lotus Evora and Nissan 370Z, Dubai doctors already have two Ford Mustangs.

The car, like the previous two, will go out on calls and also participate in social campaigns.

Mercedes-Benz Citaro

Here is another very interesting exhibit from the Dubai medical fleet. This ambulance, based on the Mercedes-Benz Citaro city bus, can accommodate 20 patients at once.

The medical mobile bus is equipped with all the essentials that doctors need. There are even X-rays and ECGs. This machine accepts those who have suffered as a result of mass disasters and disasters.

Trekol-39294

For places where a regular ambulance cannot reach the sick and injured, there is the Trekol-39294 amphibious all-terrain vehicle, converted into an ambulance.

The six-wheeled Russian monster on ultra-low pressure tires will get to almost anywhere. The all-terrain vehicle can be equipped with one of three engines: 2.3 and 2.7 liter petrol engines, as well as a 2.5 liter diesel engine.

Special medical ambulances are used to urgently transport patients or provide them with emergency care at home. Vehicles of this category, when leaving for a call, have the right of way on the road; they can drive through a prohibiting traffic light or move in the oncoming lane, making sure to turn on special sound and signal beacons.

Linear category

This is the most common variation of emergency vehicles. In our country, line crews are most often provided with modifications of ambulance carriages based on the Gazelle, Sobol with a low roof, UAZ and VAZ-2131 SP (targeted in rural areas).

According to international standards, these vehicles, due to the insufficient dimensions of the interior, can only be used for transporting people who do not require immediate medical attention. According to European requirements, transport for basic treatment, monitoring and transportation of patients requiring emergency intervention must have increased working part.

Reanimation vehicles

According to GOST, ambulances for resuscitation, cardiology, toxicology teams and intensive care doctors must comply with a certain category. As a rule, this is a high-roof vehicle equipped with equipment for carrying out intensive activities, monitoring the condition and transporting the patient. In addition to the standard set of medications and special devices for linear analogues, they must have a pulse oximeter, perfusers and some other equipment, which we will discuss in more detail below.

In fact, the purpose of the team is determined not so much by the equipment of the intensive care unit, but by the qualifications of the personnel and the disease profile for which it is used. There are special analogues of resuscitation machines for children, which is very rare in our country. As far as we know, even in Moscow there is only one such team - in the Filatov Children's City Clinical Hospital.

Neonatal model for newborns

The main difference between this type of ambulance is the presence of a special compartment for a newborn patient (incubator-type incubator). It is a rather complex device in the form of a box with opening walls made of transparent plastic. It maintains optimal stable temperature and humidity levels. The doctor can monitor the baby’s condition and the functioning of vital organs. If necessary, he connects an artificial respiration apparatus, oxygen and other devices that ensure the survival of the little patient. This is especially important for premature babies.

Neonatology ambulances are assigned to special centers for caring for newborns. For example, in Moscow this is City Clinical Hospital No. 13, 7, 8, in St. Petersburg - a specialized advisory center.

Other modifications

Among other medical transport options, the following options can be noted:

Ambulance vehicle classes

Depending on the dimensions, equipment and technical parameters, there are three categories of emergency services:

Below is a table showing the drugs and equipment available on board ambulances, depending on their category.

In history and modern era There are known cases when non-traditional vehicles, sometimes very original. For example, during the Second World War in large cities, trams often acted as ambulances. This was due to the fact that almost all road transport, not to mention specialized medical vehicles, was mobilized to the front lines.

Along the demarcation line, also during the Second World War, ambulance trains ran, which can be classified as emergency aid very conditionally. They were entrusted with the responsibility for the emergency delivery of the wounded and sick from the front-line zone to hospitals.

In remote areas modern Russia(in the taiga regions of Siberia and the Far East) emergency vehicles are snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicles. The peoples of Chukotka and other regions of the Far North often use reindeer harnesses to deliver the sick. In some regions, both now and in the past, the fastest way to get to a hospital is by water. They use “floating” hospitals (boats with motors, cutters, motor ships).

In conclusion

In most domestic cities, the most popular ambulance vehicle is the GAZ-32214 or 221172. It is these vehicles that most often respond to standard calls, have minimal equipment, and at the same time save many lives.

I would like to hope that this industry will develop, especially since it has been financed for several years now through proceeds from compulsory health insurance.