Ambulance crashes have left King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with only one vehicle to serve the entire Island.

And concern is mounting at the East End over what ambulance service it will have when the US Naval Air Station is closed in September.

The St. John Ambulance Brigade pitched in and provided a back-up ambulance over the Christmas holidays and was "very happy'' to do so, said Lt.-Col.

Eugene Raynor.

"In terms of an outright loan of an ambulance, I don't know if that has happened before,'' Lt.-Col Raynor said. "But very often we have been asked to stand by.'' Mrs. Kereen Richards, emergency coordinator at KEMH, said the hospital is down two ambulances after one was damaged in an accident this month and another was smashed up earlier in the year.

"One is in the garage, and we're waiting for a new one to arrive, hopefully within the next week,'' Mrs. Richards said.

That leaves the hospital with only one working ambulance. "Normally, we have three ambulances, and if we're really up to par, we have four,'' she said.

St. George's North MP Ms Jennifer Smith described the ambulance situation as "ridiculous.'' "All we can do is pray,'' she said. "This is the Christmas season and miracles will happen. Hopefully, we will not need any more than this.'' Mrs. Richards said only two ambulances were normally staffed at any given time. The St. John Ambulance, which includes volunteers who are trained as emergency medical technicians, recently provided its own staffing along with the back-up ambulance.

Governmment has approved a Management Services plan under which the Bermuda Fire Service is to respond first to West End ambulance calls. A firefighter EMT will help the victim until the ambulance arrives from Paget, said Chief Fire Officer Mr. Reg Rawlins. But a date has not been set for when the change will take effect and first response is currently from KEMH, he said.

The East End has frequently been served by an ambulance from NAS Bermuda, but the Base is scheduled to close between June 1 and September 1. And since St.

George's is only served by a part-time fire department, first response by firefighters is not an option for St. George's.

"Once the Base closes, we're going to be the first responders -- we are in most cases now,'' Mrs. Richards said.

Ms Smith, the Deputy Opposition Leader, said there are two ambulances at the Base and the Progressive Labour Party wants one stationed at the East End and one at the West End.

But hospital data shows the need at St. George's is greater, partly because the Airport generates many ambulance calls, she said. Government has "not responded, but I do know that the need is there,'' Ms Smith said.

Government backbencher Mrs. Grace Bell, who represents St. George's South, said she and her United Bermuda Party counterpart Mr. Rick Spurling are concerned.

Mrs. Bell said she hopes that when Government takes over fire services at the Base an ambulance will be included. Otherwise, "we definitely are going to have a problem at the East End.'' St. George's once had a volunteer ambulance service, but when the vehicle was damaged in an accident, it was never replaced, she said. "We're really going to have to look at how we're going to approach it after June 1.'' Shadow Health Minister Mr. Nelson Bascome said the situation raises questions about why ambulances are frequently being damaged in collisions.

Whether drivers need more training or motorists are not yielding as they should, the situation "should be addressed,'' Mr. Bascome said.

"Depending on what they're responding to, we need to look at the speed with which (ambulances) are going to respond,'' Mr. Bascome said. "Because of our roads, I think there's an optimal speed at which you can travel.'' Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness was off the Island and could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Rawlins said the Bermuda Fire Service currently acts only in a support role to the hospital. When needed, "we have our ambulance stand by at the hospital with a firefighter driver,'' he said.

Under a plan approved by Government but not yet implemented, first response to West End ambulance calls will be by a fire truck from the Port Royal fire station, he said. An EMT aboard the truck will look after the patient until the ambulance arrives, he said.