If there’s one thing that the Nissan GT-R is not, then it’s most likely an ambulance. It may have the speed to get responders to any location quickly, but it simply doesn’t have the space to carry any sort of medical equipment, let alone a patient lying on a stretcher.
For a certain general practitioner (GP) based in Western Australia, though, he basically had no choice but to use his GT-R as an emergency response vehicle. According to a report by ABC News, Dr. Michael Livingston is now pushing to acquire an emergency vehicle status (EVS) for his GT-R from the local transport department after a recent incident had him driving his own car just to respond to a medical emergency.
Livingston reportedly oversees GP clinics in isolated coastal towns in the region, specifically the Ravensthorpe Health Service. Earlier this year, a one-year-old who had contracted bronchiolitis was at the clinic with difficulty breathing and was already “turning blue.”
The facility was staffed with nurses, but there was no full-time doctor who can administer certain emergency treatments. Livingston was the only one who could respond to the situation, and he had to use his GT-R and drive “at speed” for 30 minutes just to get there.
Livingston eventually arrived in the nick of time to save the child, but his experience also led him to question the circumstances. “I had to put myself at risk, drive at speed,” he said. “Why can’t I be afforded the same protection as any other emergency service? Why am I forced into emotionally loaded situations and expected to lay it all on the line?”
He proceeded to apply for a license to fit his GT-R with lights and sirens that could be used for emergency response. Drivers of EVS-certified vehicles are exempt from certain road rules but must also undergo proper training.
Unfortunately, Livingston’s application was denied, and some of the reasons was because “male drivers are more likely to be involved in high-speed driving and have high-risk taking behaviors.” He continues to fight for his vehicle’s EVS, and wants to use the unusual ambulance to emphasize “the real disparity of rural care.”
