which Scottish Ambulance Service crews are present. The geography of Scotland includes urban centres such as Edinburgh and Glasgow, areas of relatively low population density such as Grampian and the Scottish Highlands, and inhabited islands. Thus the fleet provision has to be flexible and include different kinds of vehicle. In the past, 4x4-build ambulances on van chassis were used in more rural areas, and traditional van conversions in more urban areas. When a large fleet upgrade project was commissioned in 2016, the business case was made to move to a solely box-body on chassis build, to provide some flexibility and more resilient parts procurement. Most of these replacement ambulances have been based on either Mercedes or Volkswagen chassis, with a mixture of automatic or manual transmissions. The equipment used on board Scottish Ambulance Service vehicles broadly falls in line with NHS Scotland and allows for interoperability in most cases. Equipment is standardised nationally and replaced at regular service intervals; for example, high-cost items such as defibrillators are costed and changed every seven years according to clinical need. The uniform is in line with the NHS Scotland National Uniform standard, which is in keeping with the uniform standard described by the National Ambulance Uniform Procurement group in 2016. Amongst cost and comfort considerations, all Scottish Ambulance Service Staff now wear the national uniform which comprises a dark green trouser/shirt combination. Personal protective equipment (boots, helmet and protective jackets) are issued to all staff and denote rank/clinical rank by way of epaulette and helmet markings. Organisation The national headquarters is located at Gyle Square, South Gyle, on the west side of Edinburgh. There are five divisions within the service, namely: Patient transport The Patient Transport Service carries over 1.3 million patients every year. This service is provided to patients who are physically or medically unfit to travel to hospital out-patient appointments by any other means so that they can still make their appointments. The service also handles non-emergency admissions, discharges, transport of palliative care patients and a variety of other specialised roles. Patient Transport Vehicles come in a variety of forms and are staffed by ambulance care assistants, who work either double- or single-crewed. They are trained to look after patients during the journey, and to provide basic emergency care. Air operations The service has the only government-funded air ambulance service in the UK, operated under contract by Gama Aviation. The fleet