Accident & Emergency Services

The Scottish Ambulance Service delivers accident & emergency care to patients across all of Scotland. The service responds to 999 calls and requests for immediate response by clinicians.

Accident & Emergency care is delivered by specially trained paramedics and ambulance technicians who attend to over 500,000 calls in Scotland every year. The A&E service operates 452 specially equipped ambulances that are dispatched from Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres (EMDC).

Patients are categorised so that those who have most need receive the fastest response. As soon as a call comes into the EMDC the call taker will establish the location of the patient, immediately dispatch an A&E vehicle and then ask the caller a series of questions to establish the severity of the patient's condition. If the patient does not require an emergency ambulance the vehicle and crew will be stood down and the appropriate care recommended to the caller, for example NHS 24.