St John Ambulance needs urgent funds to battle covid-19

St John Ambulance in Northern Ireland has warned that the charity needs an urgent £100,000 of funds to keep meeting the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
By The Newsroom
Published 24th Apr 2020, 11:14 BST
Updated 24th Apr 2020, 12:05 BST
Matt Dempster, St John Volunteer and teacher wearing PPEMatt Dempster, St John Volunteer and teacher wearing PPE
Matt Dempster, St John Volunteer and teacher wearing PPE

The charity has 1,860 volunteers in Northern Ireland who have been on the ‘front line’ alongside their colleagues in the Health and Social Care Trusts and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) to provide resources for patient transfers during the current epidemic.

In the past week 79 St John ambulances have been deployed across Northern Ireland, with an average of 11 vehicles dispatched every day to supplement ambulance resources.

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Since March 20, the organisation has not been able to receive any income from providing first aid and ambulance cover at public events or deliver first aid training courses as they have been cancelled; in order to comply with social distancing regulations.

Christopher Murdock, Chairman of St John Ambulance (NI) said: “In the past month our mission has consisted solely on helping the various NHS Health Trusts get hospitals, wards and beds emptied of those patients who can be discharged and taken home and transferring new patients to hospitals/clinics.

“The surge in demand for our services is putting us under incredible pressure. We still continue to work to our full capacity, but we don’t know how long this will last.”

“Without the critical funding that we need at this time we will not be able to keep running at this level of demand. We require funds for more personal protection equipment (PPE), maintenance of our vehicles, premises and equipment, and to provide training.”

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Adrian Donaldson, Chief Executive of St John Ambulance (NI) added: “Just like their NHS colleagues our volunteers are being pushed to the limit mentally and physically to deal with the high demand at this extraordinary time.”

To donate to St John Ambulance (NI) visit www.sjani.org.

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Related topics:Northern IrelandPPE