Fleet manager’s lifesaving vehicle saved up to 300 lives in past two years

An emergency vehicle supplied to community first responders by Midlands vehicle leasing company Multifleet Vehicle Management has helped to save up to 300 lives.

The company based in Henley-in-Arden, which trades as runyourfleet, handed over the brand-new Kia Ceed Sportswagon to the Arrive Alive charity in the summer of 2022.

Arrive Alive supports various community first responder schemes with the provision of lifesaving resources to attend 999 calls.

In the first two years, the vehicle has spent an average of 50 voluntary hours every week on duty, completing more than 290 category one 999 calls since its launch.

Debbie Roscoe from Arrive Alive said: “The runyourfleet car has enabled Alcester Community First Responders supported by Arrive Alive to be ready to respond to emergencies for an average of 50 hours every week.

“This has involved nearly 300 category one 999 calls, which are those that involve the most immediate threat to life, requiring the highest emergency response.

“That means the vehicle has helped to save up to 300 lives since the summer of 2022, which is an incredible number that we’re very grateful to runyourfleet for helping us to achieve.”

The Arrive Alive charity was founded by Debbie Roscoe following her youngest daughter Ellie’s life- threatening case of measles in 2017.

Bill Goodall, a community fast responder based in Alcester, Warwickshire who uses the Arrive Alive vehicle, said: “The benefits of this runyourfleet car have been many and varied.

“The car has a radio and special NMA satellite navigation that notifies us of the job details and routes us to the exact location, something we didn't have these when using our own cars and mobile phones.

“The marked Arrive Alive car also gives us a profile in the area, which is obviously crucial when the family of a patient is looking for us when the call-out is to a public place, such as a park.

“Although we have no blue lights or siren, the fact that the car is marked up as an emergency vehicle benefits us during journeys as other road users give way because they recognise the car and are aware of what we do.

“Also, newly qualified fast responders are not allowed to use their own vehicles for responding, so without the car we were unable to recruit. Having the runyourfleet car opens up a pool of potential new responders.

“We can also show off the car at events where we are doing fast responder and defibrillator awareness sessions, demonstrating our professionalism.” 

The responder vehicle will be supported by runyourfleet for three years, enabling it to respond to vital 999 calls across the West Midlands until the summer of 2025.

Steve Whitmarsh, managing director of runyourfleet, said: “Everyone at runyourfleet is so pleased to hear about such positive results from Arrive Alive vehicle we provided.

“We are delighted to support the fantastic work that Arrive Alive is doing with various community fast responder groups across the Midlands.

“The service these people selflessly provide for their communities is amazing, and we are very happy to be playing a small part.”

runyourfleet, based in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, is a fleet management and vehicle leasing company with a customer base of more than 1,200 businesses across the UK, providing fleet management services for 32,000-plus vehicles.

Customers range from accountancy firms to NHS ambulance services, using a wide range of services including fleet management, leasing, rental and salary sacrifice schemes.