Larne frontline volunteer: ‘I’ve never been more proud of being a member of St John Ambulance’

Ruth McFaul, acting manager with the Larne unit, shared her story as the charity calls for £100K funding to maintain its critical services in Northern Ireland.

Out of the 28 volunteers the unit has nine of them are assisting Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) with transfers of patients from hospital to hospital, nursing home to hospital and vice versa as well as transfers from private residences to hospital.

Ruth said: “I’ve never been more proud of being a member of St John Ambulance Larne as I have been over the recent weeks volunteering with the core group of women, who have opted to give up their time, to assist the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.

“As a St John Ambulance volunteer, we assist all sorts of people and as a caring organisation we are there at their time of need. Whether it is to take patients home, into hospital or transporting to a nursing or residential setting.

“At present our units are handling potentially life threatening situations assisting Covid-19 patients.”

Last week the Larne unit, which has two ambulances, made an appeal via its Facebook page for additional PPE (personal protective equipment) – businesses, schools, community groups and individuals donated to them - which includes face shields, hand sanitiser, products to clean the ambulances, facemasks, surgical gloves, aprons and refreshments for volunteers.

Two family members of St John volunteers, aged 7 and 10, are doing a sponsored cycle, three miles a day for a week. They started this on Saturday (April 25) hoping to raise £100 but so far they have raised over £500.

Ruth added: “We need to protect not only those we come into contact with, but ourselves and therein our families too.

“St John Ambulance NI are making the appeal for donations no matter what size, to keep services continuing to function to its full capacity. Such as supporting costs towards Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as each journey we require a new set of PPE therefore supplies will become depleted as the crisis continues.

“Any assistance in obtaining PPE is greatly appreciated and we thank everyone who has donated items, money and given us support.”

The crisis has exposed the greatest demand to the services provided by St John Ambulance during peace time. In the past week 79 of its ambulances have been deployed across Northern Ireland, with an average of 11 vehicles dispatched every day to supplement the resources of NIAS.

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 essential social distancing regulations across Northern Ireland to delay the spread of coronavirus.

This loss of the main revenue streams is likely to last for many months and potentially into 2021, placing unprecedented financial pressures on the organisation, and making it difficult to provide essential first response training to the volunteers, purchase/maintain first aid and lifesaving equipment, and maintain the fleet of ambulances.

Christopher Murdock, chairman of St John Ambulance (NI), states: “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 to our volunteers.”

Expert volunteer trainers in St John Ambulance Northern Ireland are working hard through virtual platforms to fast-track and progress more volunteers through advanced first aid and ambulance crew clinical qualifications.

Volunteers come from a variety of professions from qualified medical personnel such as hospital consultants, doctors, nurses and paramedics, to first aiders, advanced first aiders and ambulance technicians from a wide background. They all work in shifts and are at risk of catching the virus. In addition to their regular training, all ambulance crews have been trained in how to deal with infected patients and wear the appropriate PPE.

Adrian Donaldson, chief executive of St John Ambulance (NI), said: “Just like their NHS colleagues our volunteers are being pushed to the limit mentally and physically to deal with the high demand for emergency care at this extraordinary time. We couldn’t be prouder of them as they dedicate their time and compassion to help others in a life-threatening situation.

“By donating and supporting our fundraising you can make a real difference in helping us fulfil our vital role during this crisis.”

To make a donation to St John Ambulance (NI) and help save lives visit www.sjani.org

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