A fleet of 18 Škoda Kodiaqs are being put through their paces by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust as operational officer vehicles.

The Kodiaq underwent specialist conversion to be ready for operational duty for South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

The vehicles were chosen for their extensive space, which will be used to house specialist and technical equipment, as well as their safety and comfort and off-road skills, and will be on duty 24/7.

The bespoke conversion – carried out by Škoda’s approved partner Halls Electrical under the brand’s one-stop package– included full emergency lighting and sirens along with a custom rear storage solution that meets infection control criteria and full mobile communications and mobile data terminals (MDT) systems. It’s actually one of the most significant conversions carried out to date on a Škoda.

Robin Gwinnett, learning and development manager for South Western Ambulance Service, commented: “We have chosen the Škoda Kodiaq as our operational officer vehicle because of the space available for the specialist and technical equipment required by this staff group. The vehicle offers the level of safety and comfort that our crews demand from operational vehicles. It blends excellent on-road handling characteristics with enough off-road performance for the majority of the situations our operations officers face on a daily basis.”