Illustrated with many photographs, news clippings and other memorabilia collected by the author over many years, this entertaining and educational book traces the history of the ambulance service in the county of Sussex in southern England from its origins in the late 18th century to the present day.

It records the many changes that took place as the service developed from its early days, when pioneer ambulancemen went about their duties armed with simple handcarts and rudimentary equipment, to the modern era of sophisticated ambulances and highly-trained paramedics able to undertake a wide variety of medical procedures in the field.

The photographs show the wide and sometimes surprising variety of transport converted for use as ambulances over the years and their gradual evolution into the purpose-built emergency vehicles we are all familiar with today.
Of course the development of the ambulance service on the South Coast was similar in every other region of the UK, making this book, to some extent, a history of the ambulance service nationwide from Victorian times, through two World Wars, the creation of the NHS and the post-war era that followed, and on into the 21st Century, which saw the merging of many independent local services into larger regional health trusts.

In 2020, its year of publication, we have been reminded of the importance of our frontline health services and this book represents a timely tribute to the valuable contribution to society made by the men and women of our ambulance services over the last century.