Motor Ambulance Costs.
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Motor Power Cheaper Than Horses by 3d. a Mile.
We are indebted to the courtesy of Dr. A. K. Chalmers, MW:, D.Ph. (Comb.), Medical Officer of Health for Glasgow, who has. placed at our disposal the statistics and other information from which the article which follows has been compiled. The figures to which we hereafter give publicity concern a motor ambulance which has been in use by Dr. Chalmers' Department for the conveyance of,-Cases to and from hospitals in the Glasgow district. The vehicle in question is a 15 cwt.
ancl weighs in full working order 37 owl. It is mounted on pneumatic tires.
On a mileage Basis.
The cost figlires which are tabulated herewith concern the whole period of operation since the end of 1910, and these are divided into three separate stages over which reports were submitted. The figures have been calculated on a uniform ripleage basis. The average cost per mile of the whole of the three periods, it will be seen, is 8.767d., and this, so Dr. Chalmers informs us, may be taken accurately to represent the average cost of upkeep. The increase from 9.039d. to 11.031.d. in the total working cost, as' between two periods set down, -was followed in the third period by a fall to 7.-115d. This variation is explained by a reduction in the amount that was spent on repairs and a corresponding decrease in the cost of petrol, oil, arid in the wages per mile covered.
Uniforms and Tires Expensive.
The second portion of the table is of an analytical nature, and enables, the composition of the totals to be examined. The principal outlay, it will be seen is in respect of wages, food, and the uniforms for two attendants. This works out to no less than 3.569d. per mile. It is a standing charge, and, of course, therefore, its incidence is greater when the mileage is less. The tire cost is another very considerable item. We learn that the number of tires renewed during the whole peririd was 19, and that was for a total mileage of 19,074, so that roughly it will be seen that one new tire has been required for every 1000 carmiles, and the average distance for each tire, therefore, works out at 4000 miles.
Four Shillings a Cast.
During the first period of .obser vation, ich was taken while the van was running in the service of the Ruchill Hospital, 4281 cases were removed. Of these, 1840 were by means of the motor and 2641 by horsed vehicle. The working cost of the former was £332 for the twelve-month, while for the latter the total expense was £.521, SO that this works out approximately at 4s. per case, whether by horsed vehicle or by motor. It is interesting to note that this conclusion in regard to the relative costs of the two methods of ambulance transport has been confirmed by this authority in respect of its farther experience at Belvidere Hospital. There, for 4582 cases removed, it was found that an average cost of 4s. id. was incurred per removal.
Horsed Ambulance Is a Mile.
It may be suggested that. it would have been desirable to know the actual mileage run by the horsed ambulance, but it has proved a matter of considerable difficulty to esti mate such figures. Nevertheless,
from a careful consideration of the district from which cases were removed, it will be safe to assume that the average mileage per case was four, so that the cost worked out at approximately 1s. per mile. Therefore, on the whole, it is a simple deduction to arrive at the result that. the cost of removal by motor ambulance for the Glasgow Hospital service is 3d. per mile cheaper by motor than by horsed vehicle. This difference will tend to become reduced, of course, as the motor gets cider.
Could Do With Lighter Type.
Dr. Chalmers adds that although the machine is giving first-class service, it is perhaps of a type. which is a little too heavy for its work. It might usefully, he considers, be repla.ce.d by one of lighter construction, and so a better result in respect of the cost of petrol and tires, etc., would he achieved. In respect of mileage ca-pacity, we may record in conclusion it is found that one motor ambulance can approximately overtake the work of three horsed ambulances. Some of the long runs completely knock up a horse for the rest of a day. It has to be borne in mind that ambulance service, as in work of a comparable nature for other public duties, is almost all of an urgent nature.