Dacia Duster is a lifesaver

Those in need of urgent medical assistance in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire may well find that it is a Dacia Duster coming to their aid after the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) took delivery of 40 for use by its Community First Responders.

The new Dusters are manned by specially-trained volunteers who provide a rapid response to many 999 calls where an ambulance is requested. Owing to the volunteers’ locality, they can often arrive quicker than an ambulance and administer potentially life-saving pre-hospital treatment. There is no NHS funding available for the CFR programme, so all their equipment, vehicles and uniform are funded through public donations to the charity.

 

Repeat customer

It’s not the first time that the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has turned to the Dacia Duster for support. The order follows a successful partnership between the Trust and the UK’s most affordable car brand where a 4×4 version of the award-winning SUV was supplied in 2016 for use by Windsor Community First Responders. Although scheduled for a one-year period, so successful and essential was the loan that the Duster served as a Dynamic Response Vehicle (DRV) until 2019, helping 100s of residents throughout Berkshire with urgent medical assistance.

The new Dusters replace several ageing vehicles, which are now requiring significant attention to deliver a level of reliability that the role of a DRV demands.

On choosing the Dacia Duster, Vanessa Casey, Chief Executive of the South Central Ambulance Charity, said: “It was fast becoming apparent that a number of the vehicles used by our volunteers were no longer reliable or cost effective to run and there was no replacement scheme in place, so the ideal solution was for us to invest in a brand new fleet.

“We’re a charity though, so it’s essential we stretch our funds as far as possible. With the Dacia Duster we already knew it was perfect for the job in terms of reliability and space, plus it delivered the all-important value for money both in terms of initial purchase and running costs. With the added support given to us by Dacia UK we were able to secure a fleet that was both affordable and reliable. It’s there to do a function above all else, but feedback from our volunteers has been excellent in terms of the drive and feel. Some were a bit sceptical at first, but they’ve certainly been won over by what the Duster offers.”

Luke Broad, Head of Brand at Dacia UK, added: “It’s fantastic to see the Dacia Duster take on such an important role and see how confident the Trust and its volunteers are in its ability. The order is the perfect illustration of how effective Dacia is in offering high quality, robust vehicles for little cash outlay and we’re delighted that the Duster is the perfect fit for the challenging requirements of both the Trust and its charity.”

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