The Ambulance 1792 – From Ancient Times to the Present

A vehicle defined as one used to transport injured or ill people to a place of medical care, the ambulance, has roots in ancient times. The term ambulance comes from the Latin for "to walk or move", the word ambulare.

In 1487, Queen Isabella I of Spain authorised the construction of specially covered wagons with beds to carry wounded soldiers to tents where they could receive care. Another significant period in the history of the ambulance began in France around 1792.

Dr Ryan Bell writes: "Napoleon's surgeon Dominique Larrey's desire and vision for healing stood against his era's appetite for war, and under difficult conditions he organised the first recognisable modern ambulance service. Larrey divided ambulances into two groups: a light, enclosed, two-wheeled vehicle carrying two patients, and a heavier, four-wheeled vehicle drawn by four horses, able to carry two to four patients and operate on rough terrain. The ambulances contained removable stretchers, water, food, bandages and other equipment."

The Evolution of the Ambulance

During the American Civil War, ambulances were used infrequently and were usually driven by drunks and thieves. The first known ambulance service for American hospitals began in 1865 at Commercial Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. These horse-drawn American ambulances carried supplies such as plaster and morphine. The first motorised ambulances entered service at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago in 1899. In the 1950s, during the Korean War, the US military pioneered helicopter ambulances for the first time.

Today, the term ambulance refers to a wide range of vehicles and even bicycle-based transport. In the US, receiving hospitals can be contacted using two-way radios or other methods to communicate important information such as estimated arrival times. On battlefields, military ambulances are often heavily armoured. In 2004, Israel modified several Merkava battle tanks to incorporate ambulance features with various life-support systems.

Description of the article image: pswich Ambulance Depot (c. 1900), Queensland, Australia.

Historical figures mentioned in the article: Isabella I (1451–1504), Dominique Jean Larrey (1766–1842)

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