
An ambulance bus is a type of
ambulance
An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...
with the capacity to transport and treat multiple
patients
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other healt ...
. An ambulance bus is used primarily for
medical evacuation
Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to patients requiring evacuation or transport using medically equipped air ambulances, helicopters and ...
of
mass casualty incidents and non-emergency medical transport of care-dependent patients,
and can also be used for specific problems such as drunk patients in town centres.
Applications
Mass casualty incident

In the event of a major
disaster
A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. '' Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by na ...
or evacuation, an ambulance bus can be used to transport multiple patients to the hospital. The vehicle may be equipped with
advanced life support
Advanced Life Support (ALS) is a set of life-saving protocols and skills that extend basic life support to further support the circulation and provide an open airway and adequate ventilation (breathing).
Components
Key aspects of ALS level care ...
systems.
Likewise, during an evacuation in advance of a disaster, an ambulance bus can transfer patients in hospitals and nursing homes to care centers out of harm's way.
Non-emergency transport
An ambulance bus can be used in a transport role to allow stretcher-bound patients to leave the hospital, such as taking excursions or holidays away from the hospital, while still being able to provide the necessary medical care during the journey.
Conversion of existing vehicles
Existing vehicles like buses can be converted into an ambulance bus with the installation of an on-demand ambulance bus kit. On-demand ambulance bus kits are installed inside any available vehicle on an as-needed basis when the need is anticipated in advance, like in the case of hurricanes or planned hospital maintenance. These kits can be installed temporarily or permanently.
See also
*
Aid station
An aid station is a temporary facility (often a frame tent, tent, table, or general rest area) established to provide supplies to endurance event participants or medical first aid and provisions during major events, disaster response situations, o ...
*
Field hospital
A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile ...
*
Hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...
*
Mobile hospital
*
Nontransporting EMS vehicle
A nontransporting EMS vehicle is a vehicle that responds to and provides emergency medical services (EMS) without the ability to transport patients. For patients whose condition requires transport (e.g. to a hospital), an ambulance is necessary. ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambulance Bus
Bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
Buses by type