Air show first aiders deliver top flight medical care

Essex St John Ambulance once again delivered top flight medical cover at the Southend Air Festival.

Proud to be the difference

Working in close partnership with the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, the nation's leading first aid charity provided 100 staff and volunteers, with three A&E ambulances and six responder bicycles at this year's event on 28 and 29 May.

First aiders, doctors, nurses and paramedics worked from four treatment centres, including an advanced medical centre with high-tech life support facilities similar to those of a field hospital.

Essex St John Ambulance Operations Commissioner Darren Bartholomew said: 'We're very proud to have been providing the first aid cover at one of Europe's biggest and best free air shows since it started 26 years ago.'

'It's one of our biggest first aid challenges of the year which has taken many months of planning.  As always, our mission this year was to ensure no one suffers unnecessarily because they needed first aid and didn't get it – and I'm pleased to report it was mission accomplished.'

With up to half a million visitors potentially attending this year's event, Essex St John Ambulance worked closely with Southend Borough Council and the East of England Ambulance Service to ensure as many casualties as possible could be treated on site.

The first aid team is trained and ready to deal with all kinds of injuries and medical conditions ranging from cut fingers to cardiac arrests. They treated a total of 121 casualties during the weekend.

St John Ambulance members give up their free time to provide first aid cover for the event, relieving the strain on the NHS. Due to its extensive first aid and medical facilities, the charity is able to treat many casualties at the scene who would otherwise be taken to hospital.

First aiders were on foot patrol among the crowds, and three cycle response teams similarly patrolled the seafront. The cycle responders are equipped with first aid kits which include medical gases and automated external defibrillators and can reach casualties through the dense crowds faster than a land ambulance.

Due to the scale of the event, the first aid team included volunteers from all over the county. The four treatment centres were staffed by volunteers from the charity's units in Saffron Walden, Maldon, Hawkwell and Hockley, Witham, Castle Point, Southend, Chelmsford, and Braintree and Bocking.