Members of London’s St John Ambulance Cycle Response Unit provide support in the Big Apple

Having provided first aid support at the London Tweed Run, the metropolitan bicycle ride, since its formation in 2009, St John Ambulance is delighted to announce that two members of their award winning Cycle Response Unit (CRU) from London headed to New York as guests of the New York Tweed Run.

 

Looking forward to their New York adventure

CRU Staff Officer Ashley Sweetland and Assistant Staff Officer Nuno Alves joined the event support team to provide medical care and assistance to the hundreds of cyclists taking to the streets of New York on Saturday the 15th of October.

The cyclists will be donning their finest tweed outfits as they embark on the 6.9 mile route, which starts near Broadway and takes them through Manhattan before finishing across the Hudson River and finishing in Brooklyn.

Ashley and Nuno travelled with all of their equipment, including their bespoke mountain bikes, which are designed specifically to carry advanced first aid equipment.

They were briefed on U.S. resuscitation council guidelines, supplied with oxygen via the New York authorities and also visited the Central Park Medical Unit over weekend.

Unprecedented opportunity

Ashley said: ‘An opportunity like this is unprecedented for the Cycle Response Unit and it has been a significant effort co-ordinated through St John Ambulance London District Headquarters supported by St John Ambulance National Headquarters and the Order of St John International Office in conjunction with the Priory of the United States of America.  Our thanks go to the sponsors of the New York event, Rugby Ralph Lauren for inviting us to support them and for funding our entire involvement.  On Saturday we will be working alongside fellow members of the support team and marshals stationed along the route, but we will also be keeping a special look out for the 100 British participants.’

Ashley continues, ‘As CRU volunteers we are involved in many of our capital’s largest and high profile events, but for both of us this trip is very special as we are hoping to also meet up with some of our American counterparts.  We are very grateful to our colleagues in the International Police Mountain Bike Association for their support of our visit.’

The CRU has operated at more than 100 community and high profile events in 2011 across London including the Royal Wedding, London Marathon and Notting Hill Carnival, and the important role the unit plays was officially applauded earlier this year when the unit was named Voluntary Ambulance Service Team of the Year at the 2010 Ambulance Service Institute Awards at the House of Lords.