Rural Ambulance Victoria (RAV) currently has a fleet of 309 specifically designed ambulance vehicles capable of carrying one stretcher.

A further 97 non stretcher sedans and station wagons are available as emergency response vehicles to provide primary treatment, clinical and MICA support.

Also included in the operational fleet are special vehicle configurations to accommodate local geographical and climatic environments. These include 8 Nissan Patrol 4-wheel-drive ambulances which operate in the high country and 3 Ski-doo over-snow rescue vehicles, one at each of Victoria’s mountain ski resorts.

The number and type of vehicles in the fleet changes continually as we respond to the changing needs of rural communities and take advantage of new technologies in vehicle design.

Mercedes 316 Automatic
RAV is building 46 Mercedes 316 fully automatic ambulance vehicles. These will replace Holden and Ford light ambulance vehicles, some of the early GMCs and 22 Mercedes sprint shifts.

Ford F350
RAV’s current build program also includes the conversion of 41 ambulance modules from the older GMC cab/chassis to the new Ford F350 cab/chassis.

Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) Vechicles
A Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is a locally based community volunteer association co-responded by the ambulance service with the nearest available ambulance to emergencies occurring in the community. The team does not transport but instead provides basic life support and first aid care to sick and injured casualties in the local community until the ambulance arrives.

These volunteer associations are established in rural communities that do not have a local ambulance branch, and are provided with a specially marked Subaru Forester 4-wheel-drive station wagon.

Fleet Maintenance Facilities
Rural Ambulance Victoria has 13 fleet maintenance facilities across Rural Victoria, employing 22 Fleet Maintenance Officers. 11 of these are permanently staffed workshops and 2 are “satellite” workshops staffed as required by neighbouring workshops.

Workshops are located in Ballarat, Bendigo, Echuca, Geelong, Hamilton, Horsham, Mildura, Morwell, Shepparton, Swan Hill, Wangaratta and Warrnambool.