Thousands treated at marathon

Thousands of marathon runners and spectators benefited from the care and attention of St John Ambulance at the 2009 Flora London Marathon.

In total 1500 St John Ambulance members attended to 6038 runners and took 68 to hospital, this was an increase on 4068 runners treated by the same time the previous year. 128 members of the public also needed treatment.

Ann Cable, Commissioner for St John Ambulance in London, responsible for the first aid duty at the event, said: ‘The number we treated this year is up from last which is probably down to the weather conditions. Last year was grey and wet whereas this year was far warmer and so we were treating more people for heat-related illnesses such as cramp and dehydration but I’m pleased to say that most were able to get up and carry on to the finish line.

‘It really is an amazing event and one all St John Ambulance volunteers are proud to be part of.’

The logistics

The organisation, which is tasked with providing first aid cover at the enormous annual Flora London Marathon, had hundreds of adults and young people in place at first aid points around the route of the 26 mile race, including Cadets (the youth section of the organisation) and LINKS (the university arm of St John Ambulance) members.

Doctors, first aiders, nurses and other healthcare professionals were on hand, with the equivalent of one volunteer for every 35 members of the course. Volunteers from London were helped in their duties by those from as far afield as Dorset and Yorkshire.

St John Ambulance provided 50 ambulances and 53 treatment centres, alongside a multitude of state-of-the art vehicles and equipment. In addition 2009 saw the organisation’s biggest deployment of cycle response units, with over 22 specially equipped mountain bikes on hand to support the event, in partnership with 12 London Ambulance Service cyclists. The units are able to reach people needing medical care very efficiently, particularly in busy crowds at events such as the marathon, which are spread over a wide area.

Fundraisers

The charity had 200 runners taking part to raise funds for its vital life saving work, including Lloyd Moreton who was competing in his 125th and last marathon.

Tara Sherjan, Head of Corporate Fundraising and Events at St John Ambulance, said: ‘We’re so grateful to all of our runners for going to such lengths to raise funds for us. If they’ve inspired you to have a go then visit our website as we have an event for everyone – from treks in the Arctic and Peru to our Halloween Creepy Crawl around London.’