Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue Service is the ambulance and rescue service of
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
, the second largest of the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
, and also provides these services to other islands within the Bailiwick of Guernsey, both those directly governed, and those that are semi-autonomous dependencies of Guernsey. It is operated as a private company, but is a subsidiary of the
Venerable Order of St John
The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of c ...
. Unlike
ambulance services in the United Kingdom
An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport.
Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...
and
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
, emergency ambulance and patient transport services are not free of charge. The service charges patients who do not have a paid annual subscription.
History
The service was established in 1936, and within two years became Guernsey's only ambulance service when it took over the previous States Ambulance Service. Initially operated by, and as a division of, the
St John Ambulance
St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...
, its staff wore the familiar St John Ambulance uniform, and used that organisation's white
Maltese cross emblem, until the 1990s. It was the only part of the St John Ambulance Brigade to employ full-time ambulance personnel.
The service was taken over by a registered private company, but with the Director of St John Ambulance (Guernsey) as an ex officio Director. The company operates as a business, but was (until July 2012) a subsidiary of the Priory of England and the Islands of the Venerable Order of St John. This is the same status as that enjoyed by
St John Ambulance (England and the Islands), the organisation of which Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue Service was formerly a constituent part.
On 1 July 2012, St John Ambulance in Guernsey ceased to be part of the Priory of England and the Isles, and was established as an autonomous Commandery of the Venerable Order of St John. Thus both St John Ambulance (Guernsey) and the Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue Service (as sister organisations) remain under the umbrella of the Venerable Order of St John, but through independent local control, rather than the English Priory.
Services
Guernsey
Operating 24 hours a day, the service provides accident and emergency cover and paramedic response, as well as a non-emergency patient transport service. Emergency cover includes the provision of in-shore search and rescue boats, and a marine ambulance. The original St John Ambulance marine ambulance launch in Guernsey was named ''Flying Christine''. The current vessel, launched in 1994, is the third, and is named ''Flying Christine III''.
Emergency calls since March 2015 are routed through the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre, linking police, fire, ambulance and coastguard services.
The service claims to be the only combined ambulance and rescue service in the British Isles. Most British rescue services are associated with fire brigades, rather than ambulance services.
Herm
The service trains and supervises the small team of
community first responder
A Community first responder (CFR), is a person available to be dispatched by an ambulance control centre to attend medical emergencies in their local area. They can be members of the public, who have received training in life-saving interventions s ...
s who provide the only emergency medical care on the island of
Herm.
The volunteers are trained to preserve life, including the use of oxygen, defibrillators, and other emergency equipment, during the typical 45-minute response time involved in getting professional paramedics to Herm from Guernsey.
Sark
The service also provides support to
Sark Fire and Rescue Service the small independent ambulance service on the island of
Sark
Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of ...
. The service operates two tractor-drawn ambulances
and is able to treat casualties and transport them to the harbour for transfer onto the Guernsey marine ambulance launch.
References
External links
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{{authority control
Ambulance services in the United Kingdom
Rescue agencies
St John Ambulance
Organisations based in Guernsey
1936 establishments in Guernsey
Organizations established in 1936