By John Ross
The Scotsman 
Copyright 2006 The Scotsman Publications Ltd.
All Rights Reserved

ALL of Scotland's emergency ambulances are being fitted with satellite-navigation technology as part of a GBP 5 million upgrade to improve response times.

The 460 ambulances will be among the most advanced in the UK after the initiative by the Scottish Executive's health department.

The improvements were unveiled yesterday in Inverness — Highland ambulances will be the first to have the technology installed - ahead of a roll-out across Scotland by next spring.

Touch-screen computers will also give paramedics more information about patients en route to incidents and let them send updates on their conditions as they are taken to hospital.

The Scottish Ambulance Service said: "The new system means the control room can give a great deal of information about the condition of the patient based on the information it is getting from the caller."

Andy Kerr, the health minister, said: "Emergency ambulance crews increasingly need the right quantity and quality of information to enable them to deliver the highest standards of patient care. This system will meet that need."