Where can i get an EX-Service Ambulance

knifey_spoonie

I'm on the Hunt for an ambulance, to use as part of a charity event next summer. What i am hoping that somebody on here will be able to point me in the the right direction. Does anyone know where i would start to look or who to contact.

The Idea is to purchase the ambulance, then drive it to Mongolia where it would be left to be used by poorly equipped local emergency services. Its a win win, i get to go on an adventure they get a very useful ambulance.

So all i need now is an ambulance......



Thanks

triple-M

knifey_spoonie wrote: »

I'm on the Hunt for an ambulance, to use as part of a charity event next summer. What i am hoping that somebody on here will be able to point me in the the right direction. Does anyone know where i would start to look or who to contact.

The Idea is to purchase the ambulance, then drive it to Mongolia where it would be left to be used by poorly equipped local emergency services. Its a win win, i get to go on an adventure they get a very useful ambulance.

So all i need now is an ambulance......



Thanks

<entire post mod snipped - see reason for editing>

monkeysox

Contact the HSE ambulance HQ in your area and ask them. May be worth following up with a letter explaining your charity and your plans.
The HSE usually sell off their fleet for a nominal fee to charities or voluntary ambulance services. However, they would be high mileage, approx 8 to 10 years old as a minimum.

ivabiggon

contact <mod snip>, few white ambos there and you might be able to blag one of them, be gentle with him... he's a very timmid/shy type of person...............:D:P

knifey_spoonie

Thanks folks, keep em coming. I would'nt be to worried about general mechanical condition, as i have all ready have somewhere that would do all the preperations free. At least its now looking possible to get an ambulance.

@ iveabiggon, You have me worried now.

Delancey

OP - how far from Ireland to Mongolia ?

monkeysox

delancey42 wrote: »

OP - how far from Ireland to Mongolia ?

look it up on AA Routeplanner

Shield

Don't be such a smartass.

monkeysox wrote: »

look it up on AA Routeplanner

Del2005

Not meaning to ruin a great idea. But are there any facilities to repair an ex Irish vehicle in Mongolia? Would it not be better to just send them the cash to buy an ambulance there and do the journey in something more suitable? Then leave that there for a doctor to use.

TylerIE

Del2005 wrote: »

Not meaning to ruin a great idea. But are there any facilities to repair an ex Irish vehicle in Mongolia? Would it not be better to just send them the cash to buy an ambulance there and do the journey in something more suitable? Then leave that there for a doctor to use.

ID +1 on that...

Iv spent the guts of 6 months working in Sub Saharan Africa and one of the organizations I dealt with had a number of jeeps imported from the Defence Forces. Absolutely no part was available locally - so this meant that everything from windscreen to brake light covers to door locks had to be imported through Ireland. And with Police in these countries often having a strict zero tolerance on traffic offences (esp if the vehicle is owned by an organization ergo has money, and can pay fines which in turn are needed for their salaries) a broken tail light will result in fines on a daily basis.

I was offered 3 ex NHS ambos a few years ago to bring to the areas affected by Chernobyl and while I wasnt eager to send them out as they would be a liability, no organisation I spoke to wanted them!

So OP while you may be able to get an ex HSE Ford or Mercedes I would respectfully suggest that you research availability of parts etc.

Also I dont know if you have been to your destination before but perhaps ask what vans are most common in the area. In Sub Saharan Africa its Hi-ace, and there are Toyota Dealerships, ergo Toyota parts are readily available. I do believe there were some specialist HSE ambulances a MANY years ago that were Toyota so perhaps they may be of use. Some behicles may have parts available from South Africa either.

Also unless you know the exact area its being used in most roads in developing countries would not be suitable for an Irish Transit based ambulance.

If your looking at raising in around €20,000 you could probably buy an ambulance from inside the country, as many developing countries have zero tax on ambulances, and ambulances there are literally vehicles with stretchers - as nobody has the equipment or training for fancy interventions.

And to totally contradict what Iv said above- there are occasions when an EU ambulance would be appropriate and indeed I would hope to get one for city where I was based to enable them to do transfers from two outlying health posts which are located on the countrys only motorway, as I have already found and arranged with a local supplier to source Ford/Mercedes parts within two weeks - so if anybody is aware of a HSE/DFB disposal do let me know!!!

knifey_spoonie

Thanks Lads.

The way im lokking at it is, I have already decided to do his event, normal rules state that the car should be less than 1.2 (adds to the fun), but if you bring an emergency services type car/van you are not bound by these.

I will be buying this out of my own pocket regradless of car or ambulance, so why not pay the extra buy an ambulance and leave a vehicle of use there. The one emergency hospital in the capital only has one ambulance, which was donated in 2008. I do take on-board the comments about spare parts, which is a slight bit worring. On the other hand an ambulance (with or without spares) is more use to them than leaving a car there.

medic112

Was involved in something simular about 3 yrs adgo. What we ended up doing was buying a right hand drive ambulance (Renault) in France (scourced on ebay.fr) then contacted the local fire/amb station for help in going to examining it for us. Which they kindly did & stored it/cleaned it/repaired a few bits & gathered up tyres & other bits & bobs on our behalf, pretty amazing! We flew in collected it after treating them to a BBQ & headed off. The gear we had here was palleted across to germany were we squeazed it in. In all really cool.

knifey_spoonie

Thanks for all the comments lads, I have looked into the parts supply, and there is a Ford dealer in the capital city. So parts will be available as long as i can get a transit, with that hurdle delt with its full steam ahead.

So if anyone hears of any disposals, please send me a PM. I have banged an email off to the DFB, so hopefully i will have some luck.

Yawns

Try a few local auctions. Remember the bro telling me about a 5 year old ambulance going in Mullingar a few months back. Someone bought it to make it into a caravan for himself the bro was led to believe.

TylerIE

Fair play on checking into the ford dealership.

Just wanted to give you a heads-up - the organization that had taken over the jeeps said they wouldnt do same again with the hassle they had!

the HSE North East Ambulance Service Occasionally do disposals. Their HQ for them is 046 90 23333. I'd give them a call - I dont know whose in charge of that end of things now, but in the past the guy was very accommodating and helpful.

Also id keep your eye on ebay.co.uk

The ex NHS and HSE vehicles often go for less than €5k, and you may be able to negotiate much better terms with the HSE.

Also the Order of Malta and St John Ambulance have recently acquired a number of ex HSE and Ex Private Ambulances. They may wish to dispose of some of the old fleet so I would suggest contacting their respective headquarters and, even better, putting the word among anybody you may know in those organizations.

monkeysox

psni wrote: »

Don't be such a smartass.

I wasn't being a smartass...

7115 kilometres is the distance between Ulaanbaatar and Dublin... Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia... I presume it's the same distance from Dublin to Ulaanbaatar... now that was me being a smartass
:P

Shield

monkeysox wrote: »

I wasn't being a smartass...

7115 kilometres is the distance between Ulaanbaatar and Dublin... Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia... I presume it's the same distance from Dublin to Ulaanbaatar... now that was me being a smartass
:P

And this is a moderator banning you from the forum for 10 days for discussing moderator instructions on-thread and openly admitting to being a smartass.

Now then, let's get it back on-topic please and thanks.

Del2005

Getting an ex volunteer ambulance would be a good idea. These are usually old Transits or other vans that can be fixed with a farmers toolbox. No point in leaving something that needs a diagnostic machine to do any work on it. Then spend cash on equipment to fit it out.

PetrovthePrat

Don't know if this is much help but I've googled Mongolia,couldn't find much about their EMS but their military seem to use Soviet/Russian and Chinese vehicles,presume that's true for everyone. Would it be possible to source something with an eastern flavour? May be easier for the local service to maintain it,and how much fun would it be crossing Europe in an exotic piece of work?

nogoodnamesleft

lst wrote: »

ID +1 on that...

Iv spent the guts of 6 months working in Sub Saharan Africa and one of the organizations I dealt with had a number of jeeps imported from the Defence Forces. Absolutely no part was available locally - so this meant that everything from windscreen to brake light covers to door locks had to be imported through Ireland. And with Police in these countries often having a strict zero tolerance on traffic offences (esp if the vehicle is owned by an organization ergo has money, and can pay fines which in turn are needed for their salaries) a broken tail light will result in fines on a daily basis.

I was offered 3 ex NHS ambos a few years ago to bring to the areas affected by Chernobyl and while I wasnt eager to send them out as they would be a liability, no organisation I spoke to wanted them!

So OP while you may be able to get an ex HSE Ford or Mercedes I would respectfully suggest that you research availability of parts etc.

Also I dont know if you have been to your destination before but perhaps ask what vans are most common in the area. In Sub Saharan Africa its Hi-ace, and there are Toyota Dealerships, ergo Toyota parts are readily available. I do believe there were some specialist HSE ambulances a MANY years ago that were Toyota so perhaps they may be of use. Some behicles may have parts available from South Africa either.

Also unless you know the exact area its being used in most roads in developing countries would not be suitable for an Irish Transit based ambulance.

If your looking at raising in around €20,000 you could probably buy an ambulance from inside the country, as many developing countries have zero tax on ambulances, and ambulances there are literally vehicles with stretchers - as nobody has the equipment or training for fancy interventions.

And to totally contradict what Iv said above- there are occasions when an EU ambulance would be appropriate and indeed I would hope to get one for city where I was based to enable them to do transfers from two outlying health posts which are located on the countrys only motorway, as I have already found and arranged with a local supplier to source Ford/Mercedes parts within two weeks - so if anybody is aware of a HSE/DFB disposal do let me know!!!

I worked in Mongolia for over a month in 2007. I was based in Ulaanbaatar for a few weeks and I was in the back arse of no where in the south near the Gobi Desert for another week in a place called Dalandzalgad on an engineering project. I was there in August - September so came across a few of the mongol rally lads.

As mentioned by lst parts availability is going to be your number one concern. There isnt dealerships on every street corner there is though plenty of markets held every week in the major Citys. Paved roads are few and far between only in urban areas and are normally in disrepair at the best of times.

Diesel wouldnt be the best quality over there either so I could envisage some newer vehicles having problems.

I would suggest an Lada 4x4 as 1) easy to work on 2) parts availability as your going to be passing through a lot of (ex) communist countries on the way and plenty of locals drive them.

As a second option a Toyota Landcruiser Series 90 would be a runner. fairly comfortable also. Been in a russian based 4x4 thing over rough terrain and i was in bits after it where as on the return leg I was in a landcruiser and there was no comparsion.

Mongolia has a thriving blackmarket in car parts so most vehicles have anti thieft screws on headlamps bulbs etc etc as these are the easist to remove I have heard something similar across the rest of the former USSR. You drive on the right in Mongolia However they havent standardised what side the wheel in the car should be on! It meerly depends on where the vehicle was imported from. They were trying to crack down on this when I was there so I dont know what the story is now.

Driving there is like most developing countries absoluely nuts!

Your vehicle should also be prepped few of the vehicles I came across over there (I dont think these were going to be donated thou) as there were year old nissan pathfinders. They had snorkles, winch, sumpguards, heavy duty roof rack, full set of spare tyres, few jerry cans, modified front and rear valance for additional ground clearance, gps, CB and I recon they also had a satellite phone as they were sponsered by inmarsat.


Oh and one more thing......there is an irish bar there :-) called Gengis Khan Irish bar it was the most popular spot in the city also. Food was ok also.

mr cowen

nogoodnamesleft wrote: »

I worked in Mongolia for over a month in 2007. I was based in Ulaanbaatar for a few weeks and I was in the back arse of no where in the south near the Gobi Desert for another week in a place called Dalandzalgad on an engineering project. I was there in August - September so came across a few of the mongol rally lads.

As mentioned by lst parts availability is going to be your number one concern. There isnt dealerships on every street corner there is though plenty of markets held every week in the major Citys. Paved roads are few and far between only in urban areas and are normally in disrepair at the best of times.

Diesel wouldnt be the best quality over there either so I could envisage some newer vehicles having problems.

I would suggest an Lada 4x4 as 1) easy to work on 2) parts availability as your going to be passing through a lot of (ex) communist countries on the way and plenty of locals drive them.

As a second option a Toyota Landcruiser Series 90 would be a runner. fairly comfortable also. Been in a russian based 4x4 thing over rough terrain and i was in bits after it where as on the return leg I was in a landcruiser and there was no comparsion.

Mongolia has a thriving blackmarket in car parts so most vehicles have anti thieft screws on headlamps bulbs etc etc as these are the easist to remove I have heard something similar across the rest of the former USSR. You drive on the right in Mongolia However they havent standardised what side the wheel in the car should be on! It meerly depends on where the vehicle was imported from. They were trying to crack down on this when I was there so I dont know what the story is now.

Driving there is like most developing countries absoluely nuts!

Your vehicle should also be prepped few of the vehicles I came across over there (I dont think these were going to be donated thou) as there were year old nissan pathfinders. They had snorkles, winch, sumpguards, heavy duty roof rack, full set of spare tyres, few jerry cans, modified front and rear valance for additional ground clearance, gps, CB and I recon they also had a satellite phone as they were sponsered by inmarsat.


Oh and one more thing......there is an irish bar there :-) called Gengis Khan Irish bar it was the most popular spot in the city also. Food was ok also.

going by this post... a transit road ambulance with possibly a quarter million miles on the clock from the hse or dfb wouldn't be suitable for ye.

Delancey

nogoodnamesleft wrote: »

They had snorkles, winch, sumpguards, heavy duty roof rack, full set of spare tyres, few jerry cans, modified front and rear valance for additional ground clearance, gps, CB and I recon they also had a satellite phone as they were sponsered by inmarsat.

Hey nogoodnames , you left out machine guns , rocket launchers and cuddly toys

nogoodnamesleft

delancey42 wrote: »

Hey nogoodnames , you left out machine guns , rocket launchers and cuddly toys

That was one of the vehicles I saw I recon it could have been an organisers vehicle as it had plenty of commercial sponsers. Ive heard of lads using k11 nissan micras to do the rally as they are fairly robust wouldnt be the most comfortable thou.

As far as I remember one Irish team used an ex russian embassy Lada 4x4. I think they fitted a larger fuel tank and gave the engine a once over. Few spares and a toolkit and off the went. No idea if they actually made it the whole way thou.

trad

Try here http://army-uk.com/equip.php?ID=279

These vehicles are unused but maintained in top condition. There are other land rover base ones on te site but the Mercedes 508 is practically bulletproof and used worldwide. I think i was quoted £6500 plus VAT for one.

knifey_spoonie

Hey all,

What kind of license is needed to drive a 98/99 Transit ambulance, I would presume a normal B license as its not over 3500kg, but i would like a definite answer before go any further.

Thanks

sgthighway

knifey_spoonie wrote: »

Hey all,

What kind of license is needed to drive a 98/99 Transit ambulance, I would presume a normal B license as its not over 3500kg, but i would like a definite answer before go any further.

Thanks

It all comes down to how many seats it has.
1 stretcher + 1 backrest = 4 seats

Have a look in the back; If the ambulance has 2 stretchers with 2 backrests you will need a D1 because the seating capacity is +8 including the driver.
Don't forget to include the attendants seat.

You can remove backrests to bring down the number.

TylerIE

sgthighway wrote: »

It all comes down to how many seats it has.
1 stretcher + 1 backrest = 4 seats

Have a look in the back; If the ambulance has 2 stretchers with 2 backrests you will need a D1 because the seating capacity is +8 including the driver.
Don't forget to include the attendants seat.

You can remove backrests to bring down the number.

+1

However if there is seating for 8+ and you remove backrests etc I think that to be within the letter of the law you have to get it certified / reclassified to state it only seats 8 or less. I think its Revenue who is responsible for same but am unsure!!!

If there is only seating for 8 or less then it is only a B

Hooch

lst wrote: »

+1

However if there is seating for 8+ and you remove backrests etc I think that to be within the letter of the law you have to get it certified / reclassified to state it only seats 8 or less. I think its Revenue who is responsible for same but am unsure!!!

If there is only seating for 8 or less then it is only a B

Correct. It is not important how many seats are in it.....check the vehicle Licencing cert. If it states 8+ seat then it's a D1.....even if all the seats are removed.

Revenue inspect the classes of vehicles (last time I checked). They can change the class.