NHS Transplant Driver | Blue-Light Run From Airport To Hospital

Here is some more unique blue-light driving footage that has been sent to us by one of our viewers.
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[@emergencyservicesnews]

Don't forget to check out our 'blue light run' playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PL8ZNuw8iyWvjPI8-bgkolDE3_hHHHmt4E

[@themanwithinflatableknees8770]

A nice relaxed drive with a driver who kept his eyes up, didn't pressure drivers and reacted appropriately. As it should be.

[@Blackwater_House]

As a Driver of Emergency Vehicles for almost 20 years I can tell you that Inches count the difference between Forward Motion and Standstill.

[@jonathanlanglois2742]

Its crazy just how tight of a space he's able to squeeze in.

[@ultra_vires]

Some very good examples of Manoeuvre, Signal _then_ Mirrors from our finest motorists!

[@trueriver1950]

Or more often manoeuvre, don't signal, what's a mirror?

[@neilbolger2679]

Well done to the superb driver trying hard to get through that traffic . Much appreciated and thank you

[@TheByard]

While working on the Old Blackwall Tunnel refurbishment we would close the tunnel after the evening rush hour and have two way traffic running through the new one. We get the heads up from the Organ transfer unit about a transfer and I would station myself at the South or North end to help escort them through the closed tunnel. This only happened once when the two way tunnel was blocked by a broken down truck, we did have a breakdown truck in attendance. But to save time I took them through the old one. The driver stopped on his way back and thanked us, hopefully everything worked out for the patient and may the donor RIP.

[@davidwood4624]

Good use of siren. No need to use it to over pressure drivers who then make mistakes in pure panic when they can’t really do much.

[@selwynowen6213]

Some drivers go into panic mode when they hear a siren. And the just get flustered

[@johnnz4375]

I have to disagree here, if you leave the siren on during the whole trip people can hear you coming and make a plan to make room, if you just turn the siren on when cars block the road people panic as they have no time to make a plan. I agree that if traffic is completely blocked and no one can go anywhere you can temporarily turn the siren off but turn it on as soon as there is movement again. (42 years in the fire service)

[@hausmaster9801]

@@johnnz4375 Road is clear or late evening no siren unless a vehicle is within visibility, or vision of the driver is reduced - my opinion on it, instead of 100% siren for whole trip Also gonna be honest a fire truck is a bit harder to push its way through this, and the bully approach works more because of the size. Not meant as criticism, only my view on it.

[@MattDinnery]

@@johnnz4375 Agree. The mess of the tunnel overall wasn't helped by switching the music off, so vehicles coming down the slip didn't hold back but continued to merge in.

[@trueriver1950]

@@MattDinnery mixed feelings about your comment. I agree that the incoming traffic was not aware of the ambulance. However in my analysis that was because the merging traffic did not look in their mirrors before merging: only looking at the leading car is a mistake. At other times in the footage we saw that traffic was clearing space more than 100m before the ambo - when people use their mirrors the blue lights are obvious, especially in the dusky light conditions in this video, and we saw the double lane traffic opening up in front like a zip. Well done those drivers for using their mirrors. So yeah: given the number of morons on the road who don't know what their mirrors are for, yes I agree with you. But it shouldn't be necessary.

[@grahammaguire404]

The best by far blue light driving I've ever seen was from our " MEDICAL FLYING SQUAD" based at Lincoln County Hospital ACCIDENT AND Emergency DEPARTMENT. They defined blues and twos driving into another dimension / category. Naturally speed is of the essence but combined with local knowledge those drivers were poetry in motion sadly the " SQUAD" was disbanded due to more advanced and more resources including our ICONIC BRIGHT YELLOW HELICOPTER who incidentally use advanced high powered response cars when the weather isn't suitable for flying or when an incident is more appropriately closer than launching the helicopter, all of this is run via charity donations which beggars belief when taken into consideration how lives are saved or disabilities can be prevented.

[@emergencyservicesnews]

If you have got any blue-light footage, please feel free to send it over to our team: [e-mail]

[@grahammaguire404]

@@emergencyservicesnews hi I'm working on it just for you!!!!

[@downtheshedwithjason]

that was like threading a needle through traffic

[@downtheshedwithjason]

some of them gaps he went through you couldn't get a cigarette paper between them. awesome driving.

[@paulwright9106]

I am astonished at how poorly people move out the way . They do not use the total width of the road to GET OVER , and every second counts ! Apathy in clearing a path for a 999 blues . I would hate to see a fire engine try to get through ..

[@johnbev2336]

As a veteran of that route, the driver should have taken the left lane before the under pass. The under pass is always busy.

[@DaChaGee]

He took the tunnel at UCH. Never take the tunnel in an emergency!

[@williampatrickfagan7590]

Great to see most drivers assisted Blues n twos where possible

[@w2ttsy670]

Here in Sydney, New South Wales police highway patrol started a medical escort assistance service for New South Wales health and do all organ transplant runs using two hwy patrol cars running as a pair. Gives them a lot of options for navigating traffic as they can do interference, switch sides of the roads, and utilize the extended training they have for high speed urgent driver duties. Also frees up valuable ambulance services for patient response rather than carting an esky around.

[@nickpage7684]

Congratulations guy job well done and so rewarding

[@mahidul96]

Driver must have used the wrong address or missed the exit at the tunnel. There was no need to use the tunnel (they took a longer unnecessary route). But excellent work nonetheless.

[@mcgherkinstudios]

Interesting lighting setup with lights mounted to the bonnet. Not seen that one before, very useful if you’re rather close in someone’s rear view and your light bar is obstructed by their roof in the mirror and grille lights by their bootlid.

[@grahammaguire404]

Hi the blue strobe lights are actually fitted inside on top of the dashboard, yes it creates an illusion they are externally mounted but definitely mounted inside on the vehicles dashboard

[@randomchannel5386]

@@grahammaguire404these are actually mounted on the bonet - they are an alternative to grill lights usually for lease cars so there is minimal modification.

[@peterwilliamson1825]

Great video but not just 3 months old, it's years old. The video shows Signature Terminal 1 in construction. They broke ground to build that in 2013.

[@peterdnreynolds777]

Amazing driving

[@rodge4980]

he is turning on the siren using L3 that's why the horn beeps everytime.

[@trueriver1950]

Intro: the blue lights are not needed because the patient is waiting for the organ. Another hour or so would not matter to the patient. The reason for urgency is that organs once removed from the donor have only a limited time before they are no longer viable for transplant. There was a BBC 999 lifesaver program where they rushed an organ under police escort and got it there with only a very few minutes left before the deadline. That footage was taken from the lead police car cam, and they had a whole squad of police motorbike outriders clearing the way for them. Very impressive.

[@Teverell]

I think I've seen that run on KZbin. If it wasn't the same one, it was one very like it... Right across London (I think) in the heart of rush hour and with amazing coordination between the driver with the donor organ and the police outriders, who were exhausted afterwards for a good reason. I believe the video description said that one or two of the bikers weren't detailed for that run but joined anyway to offer their support which made the job much easier and smoother for everyone involved.

[@wazmaff9296]

Liver run it’s called

[@petermostyneccleston2884]

It was shown on television in about 1997, called Police Camera Action. I remember watching it, because I was learning to drive back then. A car from one constabulary collected the organ from the plane, at the end of the runway, and transferred it to the other police car, where the two constabularies met. Alistair Stewart gave a description of what was going on, but we couldn't understand why they couldn't use a helicopter, to get the organ most of the way in, then police car the rest of the way.

[@bluecardholder]

At the Euston underpass it would have been quicker to go across the top and use the bus lanes.

[@iainv4092]

He may not have bus lane exemptions

[@stevesmith7530]

Luton - Barts, at what looks like evening rush hour. Not jealous at all. Kudos. I might have been tempted to stay above ground at the underpass, chance the junctions, but it's a tough call.

[@ksc241]

Swear that's Queen's Square.

[@mrsmith7540]

Mercedez at 1.53 made me nervous. Im guessing the transplant driver saw the brakes lights and that made it clear the Merc driver had seen them. Decisions taken in a split second can totally change the situation.

[@crystalmaze7797]

NHSBT, and indeed any third-party provider who provides services on behalf of them, have no exemptions from speed limits in any circumstances.

[@PaulGarthAviation]

All things considered, a great job. Now I see why NHS have a close partnership with volunteer Blood Bikers.

[@thestig8133]

When it comes to a transplant from A to Z under blue lights & sirens. I highly recommend it is done with police & medical depatch riders with high powered ( fast ) motorcycles It would get the item to the hospital much, much quicker due to the lack of getting stuck in traffic jams. I do wish they STOP!!!! using the cars & use a few motorcyclist to do emergency transits like this It is common sense rather than stupidity & time wasting. The bike can save EXTRA vital seconds overall time could be saved be upto 3 mins could be lost in traffic jams. The motorbike would make more sense in use not the car. Regardless of blue lights & sirens. 2 police bikes & the the one motorcyclist rapid response unit makes more sense or even just two police motorcyclists will do.

[@emergencyservicesnews]

The problem now is that most NHSBT drivers and sub-contractors are hardly ever allowed to drive on blue-lights as the red-tape machine has been spewing itself all over the industry ^ JJ

[@terrytopliss9506]

Traffic did reasonably well to keep a clear path.

[@andrewprettyquick2070]

See, a lot of bad things have already happened. Being one in the chain to put a little right... That's something.

[@lautoka63]

Why not use a motorbike?

[@MrRawMonkey]

The airport was Luton.

[@DaChaGee]

And the hospital was GOSH.

[@walkthedogs240]

I'm surprised they didn't use a medivac helicopter.

[@lon3don]

Next time, take the slip road in front of Euston tower, then right, and left, then right into UCLH A&E.

[@GWAYGWAY1]

Giving way doesn’t mean stopping dead and not moving over, another few inches and the way becomes clear. See how it is done in Netherlands and they move to the side and leave a passage in the middle.

[@ynotnilknarf39]

A lot of Dutch roads are wider due to the flattening of Netherlands during WWII, there's also FOUR times less motor traffic in NL than UK. Dutch drivers kill more people on the roads as a function of miles driven than in the UK so please don't impress that Dutch drivers are any better than UK drivers, including moving out the way for emergenc vehicles

[@Species1571]

1:05 What a dumb move by the BMW.

[@typicalpanda3252]

How easy is it to become a transplant driver? really want to work for the NHS and i feel this role is perfect for me to start with but i have no idea about qualifications needed etc?

[@emergencyservicesnews]

If you search on Google for 'NHS Blood and Transplant' then you will be heading in the right direction. Also, search 'IMT Medical' as they are the NHS' main contractor. Good luck! ^ JJ

[@Jim_86]

2:48. Why not just go up the ramp on the left and then down on the ramp on the outside of the tunnel at 3:40. instead of trying to pass through the traffic jam in that tunnel. Time is important when transporting an organ.

[@danax1918]

Please answer, why do every emergency service turn off their sirens if the's traffic ahead?

[@emergencyservicesnews]

It depends, but usually a blue-light driver will turn their siren off if leaving it on would mean that motorists might, for example, drive through a red light into a busy road in order to make way for an emergency vehicle. It is also sometimes best to turn it off if there is nowhere for the traffic up ahead to go. ^ JJ

[@danax1918]

@@emergencyservicesnews Alright, thanks.

[@mattwilson5969]

I prefer when they keep it on, you can hear them coming and move over well in advance.

[@colinjames8179]

Are some of these motorists asleep.

[@zzzpip]

NHSBT. the least known of the services

[@anonymousanonymous7139]

i know that emergency vehicles have to get some where on lights and sirens, but some of those moves were almost to close for comfort really!

[@Jimmythefish577]

Bike would’ve been way faster.

[@HopeYukizmizu]

The amount of clueless lack of awareness people on the road should have their license taken away and re-tested.

[@davidrobins1021]

1:51

[@SustainableGal]

Couldn't you have just air lifted it with hems

[@ChatMotorsport]

see the TAXI drivers don't like using their Mirrors...

[@goodguykonrad3701]

1:27 Really wish this guy just put their windows up

[@johnbrianwebb3399]

why not use a motorcycle

[@emergencyservicesnews]

The organ boxes are too big to fit on a bike (from a former NHSBT driver) ^ JJ

[@marcuswillis8979]

@@emergencyservicesnews would these cars make a good buy when they are retired

[@brianbickle7395]

Had he an escort like the gardai in Dublin from the airport to the hospital as shown on your channel, there wouldn’t have been so many delays. Well done otherwise.

[@SolPhantasmagoria]

_This wasn't a very good drive. There was a lot of poor lack of siren use, and some weaker acceleration sense meaning rushing up behind some people._

[@michaelnunnery6394]

Hopefully now that the UK has left the EU we can go back to the two tone. Hear it coming from a distance and be able to work out the direction it's coming from.

[@MervynPartin]

I quite agree- the 2-tone air horns were much better, both at being heard and pinpointing the direction, but I don't think it is anything to do with the EU, as they were mostly made in Italy by FFiamm. They were also used in power stations as boiler combustion instability alarms (run like hell) and pilecap gamma alarms (also run like hell)

[@atraindriver]

You mean the two-tones which are standard across much of Europe? We copied the howlers off the Americans, not the EU. The best set-up in my mind is what the Hungarians do: howlers PLUS two-tone airhorns. You certainly know when they're coming...

[@michaelnunnery6394]

@@atraindriver As far as I know regulations on noise were imposed by the EU. The Two Tone horns haven't got a multitude of settings for Town Country Day or Night. There's just one switch. Turn the noise on gat out of the way.

[@atraindriver]

@@michaelnunnery6394 If you go to other EU countries you will discover that the sirens their emergency services use are *much* louder than ours, yet those are presumably compliant with EU rules. Even two-tones can have two volumes; German emergency vehicles have "town" and "rural/autobahn" settings, which are the same two-tones at different volumes. I work on the UK railway. We were forever being told that the EU had imposed rules but it turned out that basic EU rules had been massively increased and exaggerated by the British government who then hid behind the original EU rule. The industry term for it is "gold-plating", and the more one looks the more excessive UK regulations blamed on the EU one finds. It's crap, and it doesn't bode well for the removal of unnecessary rules when it turns out they were imposed by the very same people who claim they're excessive. 😞

[@michaelnunnery6394]

@@atraindriver You've spent a long time on your reply. While totally missing the point. I was once able to hear a horn and work out 3 major things. Where is the noise coming from. Where is the noise going to. Do I need to do anything. Such as get out of the way. I'm sure that the EU get more than their share of the blame. The instructor who taught me obviously was laying the blame for noise regulations with the EU

[@Cryptonymicus]

I know you've got rules in the UK but turning off sirens makes some people think the emergency is over.

[@ynotnilknarf39]

In some sense that's precisely what its meant to do, in situations where there is no way through, at that moment the driving style has changed such that sirens are off. Putting back on just before the driving style changes back to 'emergency' mode, drivers can pick that up again. It stops people from panicking and doing something they ought not to for safety reasons. No point having another driver make an error that results in someone else getting hurt is it? The reasoning is sound and is best practice for safety

[@edgarspencer6383]

1:50 this guy needs to slow down before he kills someone....guessing he missed the part on his blue light course where they tell you no emergency is worth getting to if you put yourselves or other members of the public at risk, driving way too fast for the weather conditions and a car starts pulling into his lane which if it didn't notice and go back over instantly then chances are this driver would of had to brake very harshly, 1:37 driving way too close...yes it looks like they're moving over like intended but you cant just assume and speed towards them, 3:38 seems he gets annoyed at the Fiesta who stalled trying to mount a curb TO GET OUT YOUR WAY, should of took an alternate route rather than expect drivers to try and mount high curbs potentially damaging their vehicle which they're not required by law to do as their only required to give way to blue lights they are not expected to run red lights or mount any pavements or curbs. I get the whole "urgent" part but my god slow down before you kill someone or write your own car off! all it takes is one inexperienced driver to do something unexpected and you would of gone sliding across motorway or into back of someone but hey atleast you had fun doing 100mph down motorway aye..you can have all the "advanced" titles you want your still in a machine with the same risks of weather and other factors like everyone else, there is a reason we have braking distances and different distances based on weather conditions as well as factors we have to accept as response drivers such as not expecting every car to see lights or hear sirens and this whole drive you just assumed everything, hell i would be surprised if control would even give authority for advanced pursuit drivers to drive that fast in weather conditions that bad never mind just a blood runner, take a chill pill and relax into the drive and think about other people not just the ones your taking blood or something for.

[@nakarukatoshi]

You sound like the soul of the party.

[@mandywalkden-brown7250]

Well, let’s hope it’s you in the operating theatre waiting for a transplant organ while the transport peddles there on a damn tricycle. Your attitude is utterly sickening. What a pompous, hateful, brainless arse you are. Yes, I’m an RN who has been scrubbed in theatre awaiting the arrival of a transplant organ. Minutes often matter to ensure the survival of an organ. No need to worry about you, you’re completely bloody brain-dead already.

[@slautoengineering]

All that writing only to sound like you don't have a clue what you're talking about! 👍

[@dexid]

They were driving safely. They’ve literally got a life on their hands as if they don’t get there in time, the patient will literally not survive. They seem a very experienced driver. You’ve written half of that, and you probably can’t drive.

[@deliverwho2184]

Mate... shut up. Thats why this guy is a blue light driver and you ain't. If I was needing a organ fuk no would I want you bringing it too me. I would still be waiting 12 hours later and on a mortuary slab

[@LiveFromLondon2]

Amateur, almost reckless, driving on motorway. Unnecessary use of horn. Euston Underpass is a no-no. The hospital is Great Ormand Street so with no traffic Gower St or Woburn Pl is the same, but, its London, so you go Gower St every time.

[@chrispop99]

The horn button is used for toggling the type of siren, or for turning it off. It's outside the driver's control that it briefly sounds the horn when doing this.

[@johnj599]

Some serious bullying and coercion in this that’s terrible response driving