page_title: Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
hierarchical_section_title: Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
caption_attribution_description: English: A London's Air Ambulance helicopter flies near the Tower Bridge
context_page_description: Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide emergency care to people with acute illness or injury and are predominantly provided free at the point of use by the four National Health Services of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is only free to UK Nationals and a charge may be made to those not entitled to free NHS care.
  The NHS commissions most emergency medical services through the 14 NHS organisations with ambulance responsibility across the UK.
  As with other emergency services, the public normally access emergency medical services through one of the valid emergency telephone numbers.
  In addition to ambulance services provided by NHS organisations, there are also some private and volunteer emergency medical services arrangements in place in the UK, the use of private or volunteer ambulances at public events or large private sites, and as part of community provision of services such as community first responders.
context_section_description: Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide emergency care to people with acute illness or injury and are predominantly provided free at the point of use by the four National Health Services (NHS) of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is only free to UK Nationals and a charge may be made to those not entitled to free NHS care.
  The NHS commissions most emergency medical services through the 14 NHS organisations with ambulance responsibility across the UK (11 in England, one each in the other three countries).
  As with other emergency services, the public normally access emergency medical services through one of the valid emergency telephone numbers (either 999 or 112).
  In addition to ambulance services provided by NHS organisations, there are also some private and volunteer emergency medical services arrangements in place in the UK, the use of private or volunteer ambulances at public events or large private sites, and as part of community provision of services such as community first responders.
  Apart from one service in Scotland, air ambulances in the United Kingdom are not part of the NHS and are funded through charitable donations, although paramedics and doctors are usually seconded from a local NHS ambulance services and hospitals.
caption: The London Air Ambulance in action
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "5184", "Image ImageLength": "3456", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 60D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 11.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2013:08:01 21:01:11", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "296", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1418", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8329", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "9", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:08:01 18:21:35", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:08:01 18:21:35", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "61/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "51/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "20", "EXIF SubSecTime": "35", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "35", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "35", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5184", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1292", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "1480932959", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[17, 85, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "000031fad2"}