ambulance

An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient.

Ambulances are used to respond to medical emergencies by emergency medical services. For this purpose, they are generally equipped with flashing warning lights and sirens [警报器]. They can rapidly transport paramedics and other first responders to the scene, carry equipment for administering [提供] emergency care and transport patients to hospital or other definitive [有权威的] care. Most ambulances use a design based on vans or pick-up trucks [皮卡]. Others take the form of motorcycles, cars, buses, aircraft and boats. A paramedic is a person whose training is similar to that of a nurse and who helps to do medical work.

The term ambulance comes from the Latin word "ambulare" as meaning "to walk or move about" which is a reference to early medical care where patients were moved by lifting or wheeling. The word originally meant a moving hospital, which follows an army in its movements.

Ambulances often have two manufacturers. The first is frequently a manufacturer of light or medium trucks or full-size vans (or in some places, cars). The second manufacturer (known as second stage manufacturer) purchases the vehicle (which is sometimes purchased incomplete, having no body or interior behind the driver's seat) and turns it into an ambulance by adding bodywork, emergency vehicle equipment, and interior fittings. This is done by one of two methods – either coachbuilding, where the modifications are started from scratch and built on to the vehicle, or using a modular system, where a pre-built 'box' is put on to the empty chassis of the ambulance, and then finished off.

In addition to the equipment directly used for the treatment of patients, ambulances may be fitted with a range of additional equipment which is used in order to facilitate patient care. This could include: Two-way radio; Mobile data terminal; Evidence gathering CCTV (Closed Circuit TV, 闭路电视); Tail lift or ramp; Trauma lighting taht is used when the patient becomes photosensitive [对光敏感]; red); Air conditioning; Data recorders.

There are differing levels of qualification that the ambulance crew may hold, from holding no formal qualification to having a fully qualified doctor on board. Most ambulance services require at least two crew members to be on every ambulance (one to drive, and one to attend the patient).

六级/考研单词: equip, rapid, administer, van, seldom, manufacture, medium, interior, modify, scratch, mobile, data, terminal, trauma, differ, crew

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