London Ambulance Service

The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust is an NHS trust. It runs ambulances within the London region of England where there are about 8.6 million people living or working. About 5,300 people work for it.

The first ambulance service in London was started by the Metropolitan Asylums Board in 1879. It was for infectious patients, but it started carrying accident victims and emergency medical cases. The London County Council started an emergency ambulance service in February 1915 under the control of the chief of the London Fire Brigade. It was the first public body to employ women drivers, because so many men had volunteered for military service. By July 1916, the London County Council Ambulance Corps staff were all women. In 1930 it had 150 motor ambulances.

During World War II, the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service was run by over 10,000 auxiliaries, mainly women. There were 139 Auxiliary Stations around the city.

In 2008 it had 450 emergency ambulances with 100 fast response units - cars, motorcycles, or bicycles.

London Ambulance Service Media

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  The female crew of a London County Council ambulance return to their station during the First World War

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  During a training exercise in Fulham in 1942, ambulance crew and civil defence workers place a "casualty" into an ambulance.

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  LAS vehicles on the scene of an emergency incident in central London

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  A Mercedes-Benz Sprinter ambulance

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  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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  Taking a rest between calls.

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  An LAS rapid-response bicycle

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  Ambulances in attendance at Russell Square on 7 July 2005