Cycle responders, bike medics, bike ambulances, as they are variously called in different parts of the world, are fit, professional, medically trained personnel who share one thing in common: they respond to emergencies by cycling to them on bikes carrying essential equipment, providing life-saving medical aid in situations that more conventional emergency vehicles cannot reach.
In Britain, there is evidence that they are not only saving lives, but saving money. Figures from the London Ambulance Service, whose super-fit cycle paramedics respond to 999 calls in heavy traffic, show that the special cycle crews have saved £300,000 in fuel costs, or the equivalent of 20,000 ambulance journeys since 2000.
London's Cycle Response Unit has treated 50,000 patients since they were set up 10 years ago, freeing up around 5,000 ambulance hours a year, about the same as two extra ambulance vehicles staffed with two paramedics.
Complete article at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/224621.php
