South Central Ambulance Charity has praised the Dacia Dusters on its fleet after two years of value, versatility and durability.

The charity says its Duster fleet has proved invaluable in enabling its volunteer community first responders to safely provide emergency medical assistance

The charity, which raises funds to support South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS), took delivery of 40 Dacia Dusters in 2020 for use as Dynamic Response Vehicles (DRVs). Since then, it says the vehicles have proved invaluable in enabling its volunteer community first responders to safely provide emergency medical assistance.

Operating across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire, the fleet of 4×2 and 4×4 Dacia Dusters have clocked up over 120,000 hours as dedicated DRVs, providing a rapid response to many 999 calls where an ambulance has been requested. Due to the volunteers’ locality, they often arrive before an ambulance with the Community First Responder able to administer potentially life-saving pre-hospital treatment.

In the past year alone, Dusters have been ‘first on scene’ to 6,875 incidents. This includes heading to 1,130 ‘Category 1’ calls to treat people with life-threatening illnesses or injuries, such as cardiac arrest, while 5,218 ‘Category 2’ emergency calls were attended where people had breathing difficulties or stroke and heart attack symptoms.

The fully liveried Dusters replaced several ageing cars of different makes and models and were chosen for their robustness, versatility and durability. But with no NHS funding available and the purchase of the Dusters only possible through donations to South Central Ambulance Charity, affordability and value were also major considerations.

The charity also said the 4×4 drivetrain specified for 13 of its Dusters had enabled medical emergencies to be attended in harder-to-access rural areas.

Vanessa Casey, chief executive of the South Central Ambulance Charity, said: “The Duster has been an excellent choice for community responding. It has met our expectations in terms of suitability for the role, having all the space we need and being 100% reliable. The latter is especially important as it’s fundamental that our vehicles are available and on the road as many hours as possible.  Of course, a big thing for us as a charity is value for money and we don’t think we could beat what the Duster offers. It was still a big investment for us to refresh our fleet with 40 new cars, but it has proven to be a very good decision.”

Luke Broad, Dacia brand director for the UK, added: “I’m really proud to see how the Dusters have helped South Central Ambulance Charity carry out invaluable work in and around the local community. The Duster’s rugged and robust qualities are providing volunteers with the peace-of-mind they need to deliver potentially life-saving care, regardless of the conditions. South Central Ambulance Charity’s experience perfectly illustrates all what the Duster has to offer.”

Dacia has also published a YouTube interview in which South Central Ambulance Charity discuss its Dacia fleet and says it was the best decision every made.