Volvo Provides Rapid Response Vehicles

Volvo Car Australia

Volvo Car Australia is providing a range of vehicles to Ambulance Service Australia, the contracted medical provider at Sydney Motorsport Park, who will oversee all medical activities at the Sydney Motorsport Park 360 V8 Supercar event on 25-26 August.



Three Volvos will be present as Medical Intervention Vehicles. A V60 T6 R-Design and XC60 T6 R-Design will act as first response vehicles placed at strategic points around the circuit, while the hard-charging S60 Polestar will be the Medical Command Car overseeing any on-track medical intervention.



With 242kW and 480Nm, the S60 Polestar will hit 100km/h in 5.8secs, while the V60 T6 R-Design and XC60 T6 R-Design – both now with Polestar engine optimisation as standard – produce similar power outputs and hit 100km/h in 5.9secs and 7.0secsrespectively. With 430 litres of boot space available in the V60 and 490 litres in the XC60, rapid load-lugging is their forte.



"We have tough selection criteria for the vehicles we use," says Michael Rigo, Director of Ambulance Service Australia.



"The vehicles we require have to be capable of carrying a significant and varied amount of medical equipment, and they also need very high levels of performance to get us to an incident as quickly as possible – within 60 seconds of the accident happening.



"In addition, the vehicles need to have high levels of safety for the occupants in the unlikely event we have an off – and they need to be super comfortable given the amount of time we will spend in them over a race weekend.



"Taking all this into account, it was a no-brainer for us to use these high-performance Volvos."



Both first response vehicles are staffed with two intensive care paramedics and a range of high-level safety equipment including cardiac defibrillators, tracheotomy kits, and intubation and intravenous infusion equipment.



The Medical Command Car counts the incident commander and chief medical officer as passengers, and comes with a 12-lead ECG monitor (a multiple parameter intensive care monitor), and specialised video camera equipment that allows paramedics to look inside a crashed vehicle and determine the best medical strategies for a trapped driver. This particular piece of equipment is a regular in medical intervention vehicles on the IndyCar calendar in the States, but this weekend will be the first time it has been available at Australian motorsport events.



"We're delighted that Ambulance Service Australia has chosen Volvo as the vehicle that best suits their requirements," says Matt Braid, Volvo Car Australia Managing Director.



"Volvo is the world-leading authority on real-world automotive safety, but we're building a serious performance profile too, so it's great to see these brand attributes being recognised out in the field."



All three cars will also be used as medical intervention vehicles at the Australian Muscle Car Masters on 1-2 September, also at Sydney Motorsport Park.



*Polestar is the Volvo Car Corporation's Official Motorsport Partner. On top of delivering results on racetracks around the world, Polestar is a major force in innovation and performance enhancement across Volvo Cars' road-going range. For further information, please visit http://www.polestar.se/en/start/



For further information, contact:

Oliver Peagam

Public Affairs Manager

Volvo Car Australia

T: 02 9020 1613

M: 0408 691 017

E: [email protected]