the first ambulances were used on battlefields, when horse-drawn carts carried badly wounded soldiers to field hospitals after the battle. horse-drawn ambulances became commonplace in europe and north america in the 19th century, as hospitals became common. automobiles replaced horses in the early 1900s. today's ambulances are vans which are converted into small mobile clinics. they can provide first aid, emergency care, various medicines and life support, and carry patients to hospital.