St John Ambulance in Surrey
Surrey is a busy, active county with a membership of more then
600 adult volunteers. We have just celebrated our 100,000
booking for first aid training at work and at our Breath
of Life training day for the public, we gave nearly 800
people basic tuition in first aid and resuscitation – all
for free!
We train people at work, in schools - wherever there is a need
to know how to cope with an emergency. Our portfolio of courses
includes a range of first aid, health and
safety and fire marshal training.
Volunteers
We have 1,118 volunteers across the county in
25 divisions and in 2005-6 they provided
160,466 hours of voluntary service to the
community in Surrey, an increase on the previous year of 11.6%.
Our volunteers provide cover at county events
big and small – from the huge Guilfest music event at Guildford and
Surrey County Show, to local sponsored rides and motorcycle
scrambles.
Our ambulances and paramedics are on duty at
rugby matches and other sporting fixtures and first aiders keep
watch at concerts – anywhere where the public might need help.
The Surrey St John Ambulance boat even
provides first aid cover for water events on the River Thames.
We provide first aid for the Epsom Derby, the
London to Brighton Bike Ride and help at the Flora London Marathon
and other national events.
Commercial services
Our contract and commercial services help fund our community
work. For example we provided 34,559 miles of
patient transport last year.
Youth
Our thriving youth section provides a stimulating and nurturing
environment for young people to develop in skills and self
confidence. Over 320 young people take part as Badgers (five-10 years of age) or Cadets (11-18) and there is an
active LINKS unit at the
University of Surrey.
Community first responders
St John Ambulance in Surrey is at the
forefront of providing community first responder units in the county.
These teams of trained volunteers are on call in their villages or
communities ready to respond instantly to local
999 calls while the ambulance is on its way, so
that those critical few minutes after a heart attack or an accident
are not wasted.
We now have schemes running in Normandy,
Ripley, Send, Effingham, the Horsleys, Cranleigh, Shamley Green,
Ewhurst, Chiddingfold and Churt.
They regularly provide on-call cover for
14 hours a day, seven days a
week.