The Grand Prix - Silverstone

For St John Ambulance, the Grand Prix at Silverstone is one of the year's biggest public events. It takes months of preparation to organise the week-long, round-the-clock cover needed for this international event.

The first Grand Prix fans begin to arrive nearly a week before the actual race, setting up camp around the course. St John Ambulance volunteers begin their duty with the arrival of these first spectators. By midweek first aid cover is required 24 hours a day. This level of cover continues until the Monday after the race.

By the weekend of the race, St. John Ambulance has over 200 volunteers on duty a day with over 20 ambulances on site. In addition to providing first aid cover for the event itself, St John Ambulance also assists the local emergency services in transporting casualties from a 10 mile radius around the race course. This is due to the levels of traffic making it nearly impossible for the local services to have access to residents in the area surrounding the course.

During the practice runs and the actual race, there are St John Ambulance crews and vehicles posted around the track to cover any first aid needs of the drivers and teams. All together, it takes over 500 St John Ambulance volunteers to make the Grand Prix possible.