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57
AMBULANCE SERVICE
To the Medical Officer of Health
I submit the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Croydon Ambulance
Service, for the year ended 31st December, 1955.
During the year the Service was called upon to deal with
100,827 patients, which necessitated 50,491 journeys and a mileage
of 440,311. This mileage shows an increase of 5.2% over that for
1954. (418,542)
The following vehicles were delivered during the year: -
One Bedford "Utilecon".
One Austin Ambulance.
One Vauxhall "Wyvern" Saloon Car.
and vehicles from this Service were disposed of as under:-
Two Hillman "Minx" Saloon Cars.
One Austin Ambulance.
Two Humber "Pullman" Ambulances.
(one of the above transferred to Civil Defence).
In this, the first full year that ambulances have been
directed by radio-telephone, there has, as will be seen, been a
noticeable saving in mileage and journeys out of the Borough. In
fact, although 3,716 more patients were carried, the mileage was
937 less than the previous year. Additionally there has been a
marked saving in man hours due to radio-telephony as it has
avoided the necessity of men having to go to public and private
telephones in order to contact Headquarters Station.
In September of this year, a team of two men was entered in
a Regional Competition for First Aid (both practical and theoretical)
held at Surrey County Ambulance Headquarters, Kingstonupon-Thames.
It is regretted that the team from this Service was
not successful on this occasion.
Four members of this Service were presented with Royal Humane
Society certificates on the recommendation of the Police for
their work of resuscitation - two in connection with a case of
coal gas poisoning and two others at an accident on the railway
at West Croydon Station.
List of Serviceable Vehicles at 31st December, 1955
Four Humber "Pullman" Ambulances
Eight Daimler Ambulances
Two Bedford Sitting Case Vehicles
Two Bedford Coaches (for Mental Defectives)
Five Bedford "Utilecon" Sitting Case Vehicles
One Vauxhall "Wyvern" Saloon Car
One Austin Breakdown Vehicle