SOUTH Yorkshire Ambulance Service has taken on a £100,000 purpose-built mobile paediatric intensive care unit. The vehicle, one of only four in the country, was built by UVG, and funded by donations from the public and businesses. It will be used to take children from all over the north of England to Sheffield's famous Children's Hospital.

The ambulance is fully equipped to match the facilities of a hospital intensive care cubicle and can therefore deliver intensive care from the moment the vehicle reaches a child. Custom-built equipment includes a ventilator, defibrillator and a patient warming blanket, all of which are powered by an on-board generator. Other equipment includes infusion kits, a phone and air conditioning.