Healthcare technology is increasingly extending beyond hospitals and clinics. Connected ambulances are one example of this shift, using mobile networks to transmit patient information, support remote medical assessment and help emergency departments prepare before a patient arrives.
Fifth-generation mobile technology (5G) can support high-bandwidth video, medical imaging and rapid data exchange between moving vehicles and hospitals. Its potential goes beyond faster internet. By connecting medical devices, paramedics, remote specialists and hospital systems, 5G can help make clinical information available while a patient is still in transit.
Real-world implementations have demonstrated the transmission of ultrasound images and live video between ambulances and hospitals. In India, a connected ambulance programme has also supported remote intensive care during hundreds of critically ill patient transfers.
How Does a 5G-Connected Ambulance Work?
A connected ambulance uses an onboard communication system to link medical equipment and paramedics with clinicians at a hospital or remote medical centre.
A typical setup includes a 5G router, vehicle-mounted antennas, patient-monitoring equipment, cameras, mobile ultrasound devices and software for transmitting clinical data. The router connects these devices to a mobile network, which carries information to authorised hospital systems or remote clinicians.
The process works in three stages:
- Data collection: Medical equipment records heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation. Mobile ultrasound devices capture diagnostic images, while cameras provide remote clinicians with a view of the patient and treatment environment.
- Data transmission: The onboard system sends measurements, video and images through the available mobile network.
- Remote clinical support: Hospital teams review incoming information, communicate with paramedics and prepare for the patient’s arrival.
Unlike a conventional ambulance radio call, which primarily communicates information verbally, a connected ambulance can transmit digital measurements, video and diagnostic images directly to the receiving clinical team.
What Does 5G Actually Add to Emergency Care?
Three technical capabilities explain why 5G is attracting interest in connected healthcare.
- Higher Bandwidth for Medical Data
Bandwidth determines how much information a network can carry over a given period. Basic patient measurements require relatively little data, but continuous video and diagnostic imaging can demand considerably more.
In a tested 5G ambulance telemedicine system, ultrasound transmission achieved approximately 4 megabits per second (Mbps), while video required approximately 12 Mbps. These figures represent measured application throughput, not the maximum capacity of a 5G network.
This matters when a specialist needs to review ultrasound images while simultaneously observing the patient and communicating with the paramedic. Higher available bandwidth can help multiple data streams operate together without excessive delays or reductions in image quality.
However, performance still depends on signal strength, network congestion, image compression and the receiving hospital’s infrastructure.
- Low Latency for Faster Communication
Latency measures the delay involved in transmitting information. Lower latency can make remote consultations more responsive, particularly when clinicians need to assess live video or guide paramedics through a procedure.
A tested ambulance-to-hospital system achieved an average round-trip latency of approximately 10 milliseconds under the evaluated conditions. When additional network traffic created congestion, latency increased to as much as 400 milliseconds, and ultrasound transmission became heavily interrupted.
This comparison illustrates an important limitation: a 5G connection does not guarantee consistently low latency. Network configuration and competing traffic can substantially affect performance.
- Network Slicing for Different Applications
Network slicing allows operators to configure separate logical network environments for different services using shared physical infrastructure.
For connected ambulances, this could help maintain the performance of time-sensitive clinical applications when other network traffic increases. Testing showed that introducing core-network slicing helped recover performance when competing traffic disrupted video and ultrasound transmission.
Network slicing is not a guarantee of uninterrupted service. Its effectiveness depends on network architecture, available capacity and how the operator manages competing demands.
What Can Doctors Do Before the Ambulance Reaches the Hospital?
The main advantage of a connected ambulance is that clinical information can reach the receiving team before the patient arrives. This creates opportunities to coordinate care earlier in the emergency response.
- Remote Assessment
A specialist can review patient measurements, video and diagnostic images while paramedics provide treatment. This may help the ambulance team obtain clinical guidance without waiting for the patient to reach the hospital.
- Hospital Preparation
The emergency department can receive information about the patient’s condition in advance. Staff may then prepare equipment, coordinate specialists and organise the appropriate treatment pathway.
- Remote Imaging Support
Mobile ultrasound can transmit images to a clinician outside the ambulance. A specialist can review the images remotely and provide input, subject to image quality and the clinical circumstances.
- Continuous Patient Monitoring
Connected monitoring equipment can transmit measurements to a remote clinical team. Changes in oxygen saturation, blood pressure or heart rate can be reviewed alongside other clinical information, helping clinicians identify potential deterioration.
Remote emergency-care models have also demonstrated how telemedicine can affect the use of medical resources. In a German randomised clinical trial involving 3,220 patients in the primary analysis, a physician was judged unnecessary in 57.8% of tele-emergency cases, compared with 6.4% of conventional physician-based cases.
These findings suggest that remote physician support can change how emergency medical resources are deployed in appropriate settings. However, the trial evaluated a tele-emergency service, not a specific 5G ambulance system, so the results cannot be attributed to 5G alone.
An Indian Example: Remote Intensive Care During Patient Transfers
Connected ambulances are also being used to link patients in transit with specialist teams in India. A programme in coastal South India examined 612 transfers of critically ill patients between healthcare facilities from May to December 2023. Patients travelled from six peripheral healthcare units to three tertiary-care hospitals, covering distances of 40 to 180 kilometres.
The ambulances connected patients and accompanying medical personnel with a centralised Tele-Intensive Care Unit (Tele-ICU), where intensivists could monitor patients and provide remote instructions. The onboard system included audiovisual equipment, patient-monitoring systems and a camera with 360-degree rotation and digital zoom.
Researchers recorded 97 haemodynamic events across the 612 transfers. The reported event frequencies were:
| Recorded event | Frequency |
| Hypotension | 5.2% |
| Tachycardia | 4.2% |
| Hypoxia | 2.4% |
| Bradycardia | 1.9% |
| Ventricular tachycardia | 1.14% |
Remote intensivists provided instructions in response to clinical developments. Examples included fluid administration, vasopressor support, non-invasive ventilation and activation of a stroke-care pathway when indicated.
The programme reported no communication problems during the observed transfers, although weak-coverage areas, including road tunnels, remained a limitation.
The findings demonstrate how remote specialist support can be integrated into inter-hospital transport. However, the observational programme did not compare outcomes with conventional ambulances, so it cannot establish that the system reduced mortality or prevented complications.
Why Connectivity Must Be Designed Around Clinical Requirements
An ambulance presents a more difficult networking environment than a fixed hospital installation. Vehicles move between coverage areas, encounter physical obstructions and may travel through locations with limited cellular service.
A UK ambulance connectivity trial described by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association combined 4G, 5G and satellite connectivity across four vehicles. The solution also used a multi-network SIM to select among four UK cellular networks, helping address coverage limitations in remote and rural areas.
This approach illustrates why dependable connected healthcare may require several complementary communication technologies rather than reliance on 5G alone.
The onboard system must also protect the information being transmitted. Patient measurements, video and diagnostic images require appropriate access controls, encryption and safeguards against unauthorised disclosure or modification.
Interoperability is equally important. Ambulance equipment, electronic health records, hospital networks and clinical applications must exchange information in formats that receiving systems can interpret. Healthcare providers also need safe procedures for continuing treatment when connectivity fails.
What This Means for Medical Technology Developers
Connected ambulances bring together telecommunications, medical devices, remote monitoring, diagnostic imaging, clinical software and secure data exchange.
For developers, the opportunity extends beyond building a 5G router or mobile application. It includes creating systems that reliably collect, transmit, display and protect clinical information in a moving emergency-care environment.
Key areas of technical development include:
- Reliable transmission: Maintaining usable connections as vehicles move between coverage areas and networks.
- Medical-device integration: Connecting monitoring and imaging equipment without compromising clinical data quality.
- Clinical software: Presenting incoming information in a form clinicians can interpret and act on.
- Cybersecurity and privacy: Protecting patient information across devices, networks and hospital systems.
- Interoperability: Ensuring that transmitted information can be received and interpreted by clinical applications.
- Network resilience: Establishing safe fallback procedures when bandwidth drops, latency increases or connectivity is lost.
For intellectual property teams, these areas offer opportunities to assess innovations in mobile medical imaging, multi-network connectivity, real-time clinical data processing, network management and secure device integration. Patentability assessments, freedom-to-operate analysis and competitive patent landscaping can help developers understand existing protection and identify potential areas for technical differentiation.
The Outlook for Connected Ambulances
Connected ambulances can move emergency care beyond voice communication by transmitting patient measurements, ultrasound images and live video while a patient is in transit.
The technical evidence highlights both the potential and the limitations. Testing has demonstrated approximately 10-millisecond average round-trip latency, but simulated congestion increased latency to 400 milliseconds. In India, a connected ambulance programme supported remote monitoring during 612 critically ill patient transfers, demonstrating how specialist care can be integrated into transport.
The next stage of development will depend on making these systems reliable across different routes, medical devices, network conditions and hospital environments. The objective is not simply to move more data faster. It is to ensure that clinically relevant information reaches the right professional in a usable form, at the right time, with safe procedures in place when connectivity fails.
5G can provide an important part of this infrastructure, but its value in emergency healthcare ultimately depends on how effectively the complete system is engineered, integrated and used.
Sources
- https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/application-summaries/research-summaries/5g-enabled-connected-ambulances/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9185330/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37391836/
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44349-025-00019-z
- https://www.gsma.com/get-involved/gsma-foundry/gsma_resources/enabling-always-connected-ambulances/
