An "Isolation Cab" horse-drawn ambulance parked outside St John's Gate

Early patient transportation in London often relied on horse-drawn ambulances. This example features two headlamps on either side of the driver’s seat to aid visibility in the dark, and four large wooden and rubber-rimmed wheels upon which a small, enclosed space would contain the patient. The last horse-drawn ambulance in London was retired in the 1910s, with motorised vehicles becoming the predominant method of transporting the sick and injured.