South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) has added six Dacia Dusters to its volunteer-run Community First Responder (CFR) fleet.

After the South Western Ambulance Charity, successfully secured a £128,000 grant from NHS Charities Together for new CFR vehicles, the Trust opted for the Dacia Duster after feedback from the South Central Ambulance Charity, which bought 40 of the vehicles for use by its Community First Responders in 2020. 

The value and space of the Dacia Duster were key drivers in the Trust’s purchasing decision.

All of its Dusters were specified in Essential trim with the petrol TCe 90 4x2 drivetrain.

David Sale, the community responder officer for the Dorset region, said: “When the project team evaluated which vehicles would be suitable, the Duster met our requirements and needs.

“Its competitive cost allowed us to make the grant go as far as possible, while also providing our CFR volunteers with a safe, comfortable and spacious car in which to carry out their role.

“Having seen how the Duster has performed for South Central Ambulance Service CFRs, we could trust it to be both durable and suitable for the role.

“A great deal of the area we cover is rural but the 4x2 version is perfectly capable for our requirements and while we have only had the Dusters for a short time, we are already keen to try and add more to our CFR vehicle fleet.”

The Trust’s volunteers will use the Dusters to attend medical emergencies within their local communities.

Covering the entire south-west region, individual Dusters are based in Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Cornwall, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Together with full Community First Responder kit, which includes a defibrillator and observation equipment, each Duster also includes a Raizer lifting chair to assist patients who have had a fall.

In the past 12 months, the Trust’s Community First Responders were mobilised approximately 24,000 times, attending medical emergencies such as: cardiac arrests, chest pains, breathing difficulties and patients who had fallen.

Luke Broad, Dacia brand director for the UK, said: “The Duster is well-known for its robustness, value and versatility, and it’s great to see that, as well as appealing to thousands of retail customers every year, it’s now fast carving a niche for itself as the perfect and proven Community First Responder Vehicle.

“It’s clear that the Duster works in every sense for a growing number of Trusts, and we’re exceptionally pleased to see that it’s helping them to optimise their operating costs while enhancing the care that they can provide in their communities.”