OSLO, Norway - For the emergency medical services, getting to patients as quickly as possible can make all the difference, so operating in remote locations can present big challenges.

Erik Emberland Andersen is a specialist paramedic for the Helse Fonna Hospital Trust based in the North Sea coastal city of Haugesund, Norway, and serves an area with 180,000 inhabitants where an air ambulance is a limited resource.

To help him quickly reach those in need of urgent help, Erik and his colleagues rely on a Ford Explorer Plug-In Hybrid 1.  It’s the perfect rapid response vehicle – capable of carrying specialists and their equipment across the most challenging terrain whatever the weather.

And because it combines a powerful petrol engine and electric motor for pure-electric driving capability, the Explorer Plug-In Hybrid’s powertrain also helps limit tailpipe emissions when driving.

“Everybody can’t be saved but we can do the best we can for those patients in a critical time,” said Erik. “When I started it was about saving the lives, now I think it’s more about making a difference in the life of people needing urgent care.”