Volunteers react to meet unprecedented events
As a result of the accident on
the M5 in Taunton and a road collapse in
Bridgwater on 4 November, St John Ambulance Somerset
activated its major emergency plan.
65 first aiders from the charity were due to provide
emergency medical cover at the Bridgwater carnival. St
John Ambulance volunteers faced their own challenges to reach the
event following the collapse of a large section of wall and
road into the River Parrett at West
Quay.
St John Ambulance provided support ambulance service
St John Ambulance was then called on to provide back up to the
South Western Ambulance Service Trust which was dealing with the M5
accident. Eight of the charity’s ambulances and two staffed
paramedic cars were deployed to assist SWAST.
Overall, 70 St John Ambulance volunteers were involved
during the night, including running a command and control
facility to co-ordinate the effort.
At the carnival, there was one treatment unit manned by a
doctor, nurse, and first aiders, three cycle response units, and
five teams of first aiders.
Gerard Woods, Acting Commissioner Operations
for St John Ambulance Somerset, said: ‘We had what can only be
described as an unprecedented evening of events from the collapse
of a road in the centre of Bridgwater into the river at the start
of the evening to the M5 crash.
The road collapse impacted on our initial deployment to our
triage and treatment unit at the carnival at a time when lots of
traffic was entering Bridgwater for the carnival. This also caused
other issues for ourselves and the emergency services.
Followed by the tragic incident on the M5 later in the evening,
we managed first aid cover at the carnival and delivered a 999
service supporting the ambulance service which was committed to the
M5 incident. Our last unit stood down at 5am on Saturday
morning.
St John Ambulance provides back up to ambulance services all
around the country in times of need.