Tom Lynch

Tom Lynch had the idea for the first London Ambulance Cycle Response Unit (CRU), with the aim of providing emergency response by bicycle in areas which would be difficult or impossible to get to in a traditional ambulance.

Early life

Tom Lynch rode bikes in the hills where he grew up, progressing to motocross bikes and then to BMX in the early 1980s. He had an accident at school when he was 11 years old and remembers the calmness of the ambulance crew.

London Ambulance Service

In the early 1990s, following his BMX career, Lynch trained with the patient transport services at the London Ambulance Service.

Lynch's connections to the bicycle industry enabled him to contribute to the design of the bikes used in the trial,

Trial Expansion The trial was a success and the London CRU expanded to Heathrow Airport in 2004, the City of London in 2006 and Kensington and Knightsbridge, Croydon town centre, Canary Wharf and the area around St Pancras International station in 2008. Since then other cities in the UK have also set up CRUs. thumb

Cycle Response Bicycles Cycle Response Units originally used cycle response bicycles based on a mountain bike, painted bright yellow and fitted with blue lights and a siren. which are heavier but are more efficient.

Cycle responders resolve over 50 per cent of all incidents at the scene, their average response time to calls is six minutes and they can cycle 100km in a single 10/12-hour shift.