There were lots of police on duty, and some of them were on horseback too. This gave me an idea: maybe there should be a mounted division of St John Ambulance. I'm not talking about carrying people to hospital, so this would be the equivalent of our cycle responders; the idea is that you get to a casualty as quickly as possible, carrying an AED and oxygen tank with you, then start treatment while you're waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Particularly in rural areas, if you had to reach someone in the middle of a field then a horse might be faster than a bike. I quite like the idea of galloping to the rescue, but my colleagues weren't entirely convinced.
Following on from that, another approach would be a hang glider squad. If you have a wide area to cover, you just need to find a suitable high point near the centre, then you can launch in the appropriate direction. Or maybe a microlight...
