Case study: hovercraft in the medivac / mobile ambulance role

Truly all terrain vehicles, Griffon Hoverwork hovercraft are the only vehicle able to provide high speed casualty response and medical evacuation in areas of shallow water, mud, ice, sand or debris. Griffon Hoverwork have more craft in service with Search and Rescue (SAR) organizations that any other manufacturer, including six 470TDs with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Coastguards from Canada to Kuwait also use these craft for medical evacuation and disaster relief.

As well as giving access previously unreachable by conventional boats, hovercraft provide the benefits of:

• Safety standby for specific events or operations that require mud/water rescue cover.

• Open water search for casualties, particularly over shallow water or rocky areas where vessels often run into trouble.

• The rescue of stranded but safe casualties, including those in precarious positions who have semi self-rescued by holding on to rocks or debris.

• High speed emergency response during natural disasters. As many emergency personnel will testify to, the first few minutes are crucial to the success of the rescue and the hovercraft can respond at high speed from any unprepared beach or dried out harbor and take the most direct route possible.

• Access to those stranded on mud flats or quick sand areas. The RNLI, the UK’s main search and rescue service, had to mobilize their hovercraft in the north of the country to save a 66-yr-old gentleman who had become stuck in the mud a quarter of a mile off-shore, as conventional lifeboats were unable to reach him.

• To prepare for worst case scenarios, Griffon hovercraft are often used for rescue site assessment, route identification and mass casualty evacuation.

As well as search and rescue duties, Griffon hovercraft are frequently used to provide assess for rescue personnel to the accident site. The hovercraft can be fitted with a separate patient cabin and facilities for the initial treatment of casualties, including oxygen provision, aspiration treatment and trauma care. On larger craft, the provision of ‘gull-wing’ doors makes it easy to lift a stretcher in and out of the craft whilst keeping disturbance to the casualty as minimal as possible.

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