Ceremony for new ambulance
TWO new state-of-the-art ambulances were presented to St John Ambulance Emergency Service in a special ceremony on the Albert Pier.
The event was intended to recreate the scene of 84 years ago, when the St John Ambulance Brigade received its new Morris ambulance at a ceremony in front of the Prince Albert statue at the Albert Pier, with a large crowd looking on.
St John had taken on the responsibility of running the ambulance service for the island the year before.
The ceremony was attended by the Bailiff Richard McMahon, States of Guernsey representatives and senior officers, and frontline staff from the emergency ambulance service.
A blessing was conducted by the new St John chaplain, the Rev. Matthew Barrett.
Chief ambulance officer Mark Mapp said the new ambulances would replace two of the existing fleet, which were now more than 12 years old.
‘My colleagues and I at St John thank the States for their responsive procurement efforts, which have enabled this to happen more promptly than we had initially feared,’ he said.
‘These are specialist vehicles, somewhat narrower than standard international vehicles, in order to better operate on Guernsey’s narrow roads.’
The new ambulances are fitted with diagnostic and treatment equipment which allows clinicians to administer urgent and emergency pre-hospital care on scene at a patient’s home or by the roadside.
The vehicles are designed to give maximum comfort for patients and a practical working environment for medical crews.
The States provides an annual grant to fund the balance of the costs of St John providing the emergency ambulance service, subject to various operational performance indicators being met.
Health and Social Care Committee president Deputy Al Brouard said: ‘As we are seeing in many jurisdictions, the funding of health and social care services is one of the most challenging issues for governments in our time.
‘Difficult priorities have to be set as we aim to provide the full range of services needed by the community in the most cost-effective manner.
'St John is a key partner and I am pleased that we are able to invest to keep our services properly equipped for the demands they face.’
States interim chief executive Mark de Garis said that during 2018 HSC worked with a range of service providers to offer better coordination for the care islanders receive on a daily basis.
As part of this arrangement, aimed at providing new ways of working and solutions which address the core pressures of an ageing demographic and above-inflation increases in the cost of healthcare, the committee and St John have defined and agreed a future operating model for ‘Patient-intense Emergency Response’ and general ambulance services.
That model is being implemented in a phased manner.
