{"id":770919,"date":"2026-02-17T17:55:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T17:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/770919\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T17:55:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T17:55:19","slug":"160-new-vehicles-inside-the-23m-blitz-to-modernise-wales-ambulance-fleet-and-slash-response-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/770919\/","title":{"rendered":"160 NEW VEHICLES: Inside the \u00a323m blitz to modernise Wales\u2019 ambulance fleet and slash response times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The funding, announced by the Welsh Government, will provide a massive fleet upgrade for the <strong>Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust<\/strong>. The new rollout includes:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>50<\/strong>\u00a0new emergency ambulances<\/li>\n<li><strong>40<\/strong>\u00a0single responder vehicles<\/li>\n<li><strong>67<\/strong>\u00a0Non-Emergency Patient Transport Vehicles<\/li>\n<li><strong>3<\/strong>\u00a0specialist Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) vehicles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Faster, Greener, More Reliable<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The investment is part of an ongoing modernisation programme to replace aging vehicles with models that meet the latest emissions standards. As the service covers over 8,000 square miles, including the challenging rural terrain of Carmarthenshire and the busy streets of Swansea, reliability is seen as the top priority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Miles, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen someone dials 999, they need to know that help is on the way. This investment ensures our ambulance service has the modern, reliable fleet it needs to be there for people across Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>High-Tech Future: Drones and AI<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond new vans, the service is also embracing \u201csmarter care\u201d technology. Trials are currently underway for <strong>defibrillator drones<\/strong> to reach rural areas, while <strong>AI<\/strong> is being explored to support 999 call handlers during peak periods.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"427\" data-attachment-id=\"115482\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/swanseabaynews.com\/160-new-vehicles-inside-the-23m-blitz-to-modernise-wales-ambulance-fleet-and-slash-response-times\/72610950-615f-4af4-ad1ba46b1ad23e8c_carouselimage\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/swanseabaynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/72610950-615F-4AF4-AD1BA46B1AD23E8C_carouselimage.png\" data-orig-size=\"1506,628\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"72610950-615F-4AF4-AD1BA46B1AD23E8C_carouselimage\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;New ambulance service drones have specialist search capabilities including thermal imaging and can be deployed in rain and winds of up to 20 miles an hour.&lt;br \/&gt;&#10;(Image: Welsh Ambulance Service Trust)&lt;\/p&gt;&#10;\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/swanseabaynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/72610950-615F-4AF4-AD1BA46B1AD23E8C_carouselimage-300x125.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/72610950-615F-4AF4-AD1BA46B1AD23E8C_carouselimage-1024x427.png\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/72610950-615F-4AF4-AD1BA46B1AD23E8C_carouselimage-1024x427.png\" alt=\"new Ambulance Service drone flying in a clear blue sky.\" class=\"wp-image-115482\"\/>New ambulance service drones have specialist search capabilities including thermal imaging and can be deployed in rain and winds of up to 20 miles an hour. <br \/>(Image: Welsh Ambulance Service Trust)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris Turley, Executive Director of Finance for the Trust, added:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cModern ambulances are more dependable, better equipped to support patient care and provide a safer, more comfortable working environment for our staff. We\u2019re also proud to be playing our part in reducing our environmental footprint.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new fleet will feature hybrid engines and solar panels as part of a commitment to a \u201cgreener\u201d future for the national health service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Is the ambulance service improving in your area? Let us know in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The funding, announced by the Welsh Government, will provide a massive fleet upgrade for the Welsh Ambulance Services&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":770920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5010],"tags":[323,16186,748,225616,4884,225617,225618,16,15,1764,225619,14794],"class_list":["post-770919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wales","tag-ai","tag-ambulance","tag-britain","tag-defibrillator-drones","tag-great-britain","tag-jeremy-miles-ms","tag-new-ambulances","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wales","tag-welsh-ambulance-service-trust","tag-welsh-government"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116087264087800502","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}