Crawley first aiders braced for biggest challenge of the year

First aiders from Crawley St John Ambulance will be among a 120-strong band of St John Ambulance volunteers involved in a military style operation at this weekend’s Brighton Pride parade.

Kerry Weston is part of the charity’s management team for the event and Linda Weston, who runs Crawley St John Ambulance’s adult unit, will be in charge of one of the three medical treatment centres in Preston Park.

As revellers eagerly await Brighton’s event of the year, the nation’s leading first aid charity is feverishly working behind the scenes to make sure the right medical cover is in place to support the city’s biggest and best-loved party.

Sussex St John Ambulance started planning for this year’s event almost before last year’s festivities had ended.

The charity’s team will include nine doctors, six paramedics, seven nurses, experienced first aiders from across the county and an 11-strong fleet of ambulances and support vehicles.

The three treatment centres will include an advanced medical centre which will operate a triage system to identify priority patients. It will be staffed by highly trained health professionals using sophisticated A&E equipment.

Sussex St John Ambulance’s Operations Manager Dan May said: ‘While it’s party time for most people, for us it’s a huge undertaking, requiring intense use of our resources and often our most advanced medical skills.

‘We need to be geared up for every imaginable medical emergency whether it’s a cut finger or a cardiac arrest and our mission is to make sure anyone who needs first aid gets it as soon as practically possible.’

The St John Ambulance team has worked closely with the festival organisers, Brighton City Council and the emergency services to ensure arrangements are in place to cope with an expected 120,000 revellers over the weekend of 7-8 August.

This will be the 18th time St John Ambulance has provided medical cover for the event. Its first aiders typically deal with about 400 casualties over the weekend, including many serious medical emergencies.

Mr May said: ‘One of our key aims is to relieve pressure on the local ambulance service and NHS A&E department, by treating as many people as possible on the spot without the need for hospital admission.’

St John Ambulance will also be represented in the Saturday parade with a team promoting the charity’s Life Lost campaign message that first aid is the difference between a life lost and a life saved.*

Lesley Burn, of Pride, said: ‘We simply couldn’t run the event without this level of medical support. Having worked with St John Ambulance for many years, we know we can rely on them to help us ensure tens of thousands of people enjoy themselves in a fun but safe environment.’

St John Ambulance has more than 1,000 adult volunteers in Sussex who provided medical cover at more than 1,000 public events in the county last year. The charity is not part of the NHS and also receives no government funding so relies on donations and fundraising to continue working in the local communities. For information on making a donation or becoming a volunteer please call 01273 371 500 or visit www.sja.org.uk/sussex.