Proactive battery management is never more important than when someone’s life is on the line.

Keep Emergency Services Vehicles in Top Condition

Emergency services throughout the UK provide an imperative and lifesaving service by getting to where they need to be on time. If they weren’t able to attend emergencies as quickly as they do, there would certainly be an increased loss of life across the UK.

In order to get to where they need to be, emergency service vehicles should always be maintained in top condition, to ensure emergency service professionals are always able to complete their job to the best of their ability and ultimately save lives.

80% of Breakdowns Battery Related

If we look at stats from our Rotronics Online Battery Information Portal (ROBIS), we can see that 80% of vehicle breakdowns are down to battery-related faults, including sulphation, discharged or damaged batteries. This means when an emergency service vehicle does break down, it’s more than likely to be a fault with the battery.

Police, Fire, and Ambulance Service vehicles can carry anything from emergency lights to sirens, communications devices, and service-specific equipment. All of these additional electronics increase the load on the battery, causing it to discharge faster than a regular vehicle.

Helping to Reduce Non-Starts by 50%

We have previously supported emergency service workshops with their battery management requirements, including Wiltshire Fire and Rescue who said, "In partnership with Rotronics, we have reduced battery-related non-starts by more than 50%”.

To support emergency service workshops such as Wiltshire Fire and Rescue, we recommend batteries are kept above 12.5v at all times to ensure sulfation does not occur. If sulfation produces a barrier on the battery terminals, it will reduce the battery’s ability to accept change, causing breakdowns and non-starts.

Recommended Products for the Emergency Services

We also recommend the Midtronics EXP1000FHD battery tester, and the Midtronics DCA8000 diagnostic charging system, for emergency workshop applications. The products will detect potential defects before they become non-starts or breakdowns. Emergency service workshops should also annually service and calibrate equipment, to ensure test results remain accurate.

We would like to thank the UK emergency services for all of the hard work they do on a daily basis. Please call 0121 514 0605 with any questions, or visit our emergency services, battery tester and charger pages for product information.