First aiders treat 801 casualties at V Festival

 

Essex St John Ambulance volunteers who gave up their free time to provide vital first aid cover at the V Festival treated 801 casualties and took 13 people to hospital during the festivities.

Every kind of casualty imaginable

More than 120 members of the nation’s leading first aid charity tended to the needs of partygoers with all kinds of medical conditions including many drink related problems, leg and ankle injuries.

Essex St John Ambulance Commissioner (Operations) Darren Bartholomew said: ‘As expected with an event of this size, we were called upon to deal with just about every kind of casualty imaginable.

‘But after months of detailed planning we were geared up to deal with everything which came our way. All credit is due to our volunteers who gave up their free time to support the event. They provided first class medical care, at times under very stressful conditions.’

The St John Ambulance team included nurses, paramedics, first aiders and support staff.

They staffed five treatment centres and a 24-hour advanced medical centre with high-tech life support facilities similar to those of a military field hospital. First aiders were out and about among the crowds on foot patrol throughout the event.

The medical cover for the event was a joint venture between St John Ambulance and the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Essex St John Ambulance has 1,500 members who provide first aid cover at hundreds of public events across the county each year.