M
Mike
Guest
Vital satellite navigation equipment has been stolen from a frontline ambulance car in Thetford - for the second time in the past year.
The theft happened last night between 6.30pm and 7am while the marked car was parked at the town's ambulance station on Croxton Road.
Thieves broke a window to gain access before ripping out the screen, damaging the dashboard.
Jay Sykes, clinical field operations manager, said the screen was useless to anyone who tried to use it in their own vehicle.
“We have had a number of thefts of these screens recently across the region, but they can only be used in conjunction with the ambulance service's own system, so they are totally useless to anyone else,” he added.
“People think they are like the popular portable satellite navigation systems but they are completely different.
“Any theft from vehicles is obviously wrong, but to put a frontline ambulance vehicle off the road shows a total lack of regard for other people's well-being. Whoever did this should consider that one day they might need an ambulance.”
The Ford Focus has now been targeted twice, once while parked at the cottage hospital on Earl Street, and now from the ambulance station.
It is used by Emergency Care Practitioners to respond to 999 calls and visit patients in the GP out of hours system.
The theft happened last night between 6.30pm and 7am while the marked car was parked at the town's ambulance station on Croxton Road.
Thieves broke a window to gain access before ripping out the screen, damaging the dashboard.
Jay Sykes, clinical field operations manager, said the screen was useless to anyone who tried to use it in their own vehicle.
“We have had a number of thefts of these screens recently across the region, but they can only be used in conjunction with the ambulance service's own system, so they are totally useless to anyone else,” he added.
“People think they are like the popular portable satellite navigation systems but they are completely different.
“Any theft from vehicles is obviously wrong, but to put a frontline ambulance vehicle off the road shows a total lack of regard for other people's well-being. Whoever did this should consider that one day they might need an ambulance.”
The Ford Focus has now been targeted twice, once while parked at the cottage hospital on Earl Street, and now from the ambulance station.
It is used by Emergency Care Practitioners to respond to 999 calls and visit patients in the GP out of hours system.
