The annual subscription provides cover for 10 non-emergency journeys, five emergency journeys and five marine ambulance journeys. It costs £71 for adults, £33 for children and £50 for over-65s.
The local ambulance service is not provided by the States and is not free to the user.
‘Out of 10,000 calls we receive a year, about a quarter of them don’t have the subscription,’ said chief ambulance officer Mark Mapp.
‘When someone has an accident it is unpredictable, but what is predictable is the cost of an ambulance.
‘People have an accident and then are getting over the trauma when they receive a bill through the letter box which can add trauma to the event.’
Fewer than one in 10 of all islanders have a subscription, and St John is encouraging more people to sign up for 2026.
‘The idea of the subscription is that everyone who needs one can afford to call an ambulance,’ said Mr Mapp.
‘If you need to sacrifice a subscription this year, don’t let it be this one. This is one subscription you can’t do without.
‘It’s only the cost of a few months’ Netflix [subscription]. My advice would be to spend your money on your health.’
50% of people who are already subscribed are in an older age bracket. Mr Mapp said he understood this but would encourage anyone of any age to cover themselves. ‘You never know what could happen.’
Mr Mapp said that there were some cases where people have previously been subscribed, and only realised that their subscription had lapsed when they had needed an ambulance.
‘People get over a traumatic event and it has lapsed, and it has completely slipped their mind to renew, and that comes as a shock,’ he said.
The payment can be made in full or in instalments. Those who set up a direct debit will not have to renew year on year.
Subscriptions for 2026 launched earlier this week and islanders can sign up either at St John’s Ambulance in the Rohais, any Guernsey Post office or on the St John Ambulance Guernsey website.
‘We started last year with Guernsey Post and it was really successful, and it is much more accessible.
‘We would encourage people to use this,’ said Mr Mapp.
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