Angela, Maria, Mel and Mike started their induction as employees of St John Ambulance & Resuce Service in January. This included familiarisation with the Flying Christine III marine ambulance (pictured), and are now undertaking clinical and driver training in both Alderney and Guernsey.
This is a new model of training for Alderney, and is part of the same nationally recognised programme that trainee clinicians in Guernsey undertake.
Initial training for the Alderney ambulance crew will last 3 months and includes patient assessment and initial treatment for medical and trauma cases, urgent and emergency care, moving and handling, radio and communications, emergency response driver training.
Trainees are assessed and examined throughout the training process and are required to complete in excess of 250 hours working alongside experienced staff before they can crew in Alderney.
The nationally recognised driver training includes teaching new ambulance staff the system of vehicle control, roadcraft and emergency response driving. As part of the training students are expected to demonstrate they are safe and competent and are required to drive using blue lights and sirens as part of this training.
Aimee Lihou, Head of Quality and Patient Safety at St John Ambulance & Rescue Service said: “Although Alderney is smaller than Guernsey and the roads are less busy, all staff working in Alderney must meet the same professional standards as their colleagues in Guernsey. This is particularly important because Alderney staff will be required to work alongside other ambulance clinical staff in Guernsey to ensure they are supported to maintain high standards of care.”
Miss Lihou added “St John Ambulance & Rescue Service is committed to working with the community and giving Alderney people career opportunities to encourage them to stay on island, part of that involves training both full time clinicians and volunteers.”
It was announced in October 2022 that St John Ambulance & Rescue Service had been commissioned by the States of Alderney as the new provider of Alderney’s ambulance service. The announcement followed a review of ambulance provision and an extensive consultation period involving St John in Guernsey, the States of Alderney and States of Guernsey.
The Alderney ambulance service will operate as an extension of the Guernsey service, under the clinical governance framework and leadership of the St John Ambulance & Rescue Service with training and development opportunities aligned to the Guernsey operation.
A recent survey showed that more than 90% of people in Guernsey rated the emergency ambulance service as excellent. Under the new agreement St John offers professional experience, clinical expertise and leadership which means St John is ideally placed to provide the ambulance service for Alderney.
If you are enthusiastic and motivated, with experience of working within an administrative role and have good communication skills with an ability to work with customers and the public – we want to hear from you.
Nick was presented with his award by the Lieutenant Governor at Government House in December.
Nick and a colleague were tasked with responding onboard the RNLI St Peter Port Lifeboat to a fishing vessel 26 miles off the west coast of Guernsey, where a member of the vessel’s crew had suffered in a significant crush injury to his hand.
The outward journey took almost an hour in rough sea conditions with a heavy swell. Nick not cared for the patient on the return leg of the journey and but also provided care for a colleague who had also become unwell. Without this professionalism and determination, the patient would undoubtedly have received lesser care during their transfer to Guernsey.
Chief Ambulance Officer Mark Mapp said: “Being deployed on the Lifeboat so far offshore, and in such challenging sea conditions, is a rare event which many would struggle to cope with but Nick demonstrated the values of the Ambulance & Rescue Service by showing compassion, professionalism and commitment while delivering excellent care to the patient and his colleague in challenging circumstances. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance and professionalism of the crew of the lifeboat in this case.”
An engineer will be visiting Guernsey during the second week of February to provide a free upgrade for any IPAD SP1 AEDs with an old version of the software. The emergency ambulance service has offered to assist the manufacturer resolve this issue and the engineer will be based at the ambulance station on the Rohais during the visit.
If you have an IPAD SP1 AED please follow the steps below:
1 – Hold down the “I” button on your device for 2 seconds, or until it beeps.
For example “ Software Version… 1…4…1…0…0…0…1…0…0” – the software in this example is 1.41.
EMAIL Steve.ford@stjohn.gg including your name and contact number and we will be in touch to book an appointment with the UK engineer when they visit Guernsey in February.
Further details can be found on the manufacture’s website https://www.ipad-aed.com/softwareupgrade/
Colby Bridgman, who is now 6, Colby, was accompanied by his mum and nanny, as he received the Chief Officer’s Commendation award from Mark Mapp at the Ambulance Station, on the Rohais.
During the 999 call Colby remained calm, providing the JESCC call-taker with vital information, including his name, address and postcode, as well as details of what had happened to his mum. Colby can be heard saying “mummy fell and she can’t really breath properly….and is closing her eyes”. While the ambulance was dispatched Colby kept checking on his mum, then while the call-taker stayed on the line Colby was asked to get a neighbour for help. Later in the call Colby can be heard saying “I can hear the ambulance.”
The ambulance crew praised Colby, saying: “Colby was amazing. He was calm, helpful and so grown up at a time that must have been really frightening for him. Colby was able to answer all our questions, and provide us with lots of really valuable details which helped us to understand what had happened to his mum. He was so polite and kind and even gave us one of his special stones to thank us for looking after his mum. Well done Colby you’re an awesome young man.”
Mr Mapp said: “Knowing what to do in an emergency is a life skill and that is why as the ambulance service — and as part of St John — we teach people of all ages what to do in a medical emergency and how to give life-saving first aid. One of the most important things is recognising that someone is unwell and calling 999 for help. And that is exactly what Colby did when his mum experienced a medical emergency. Because his family had spoken to him about how to call an ambulance and how to call 999 – Colby knew exactly what to do.
During the call, Colby remained calm and answered all the questions he was asked, which ensured an emergency ambulance was quickly dispatched to the house so his mum could get the care and treatment she needed.”
Colby was also presented with a model of an emergency ambulance and given a tour of a real ambulance by the crew which attended the incident in September.
Colby’s mum Jess Payne says she doesn’t remember much about the evening, but she was full of praise for her son. “From what I’ve been told he was really amazing did everything he was asked and he was really brave. It is really good to make children aware of how to phone 999, particularly when no one else is around. It is so important and I’m so glad I did it.”
The JESCC call-taker Liz Arklie also received a Chief Officer’s Recognition of Performance Award for her calm and professional handling of the 999 call.
Mr Dene served as Chief Officer from 1985 to 1990, having initially joined St John as a volunteer in the Rohais Brigade in 1947, after returning to Guernsey following the Liberation of the islands after the Occupation. He went on to join the Ambulance & Rescue Service in 1948 on the day the service moved more than forty patients from the former Castel Hospital to the new Princess Elizabeth Hospital.
When he joined St John the ambulance service had only been in existence for a little over ten years, it was a nine-man operation, with four ambulances, a car and two motorcycles. Training was led by the founding Chief Officer Reg Blanchford, who Mr Dene credited for teaching him so much as a young man.
Mr Dene served on the first Flying Christine marine launch when it was introduced in 1952 and during his career he was involved in a number of rescues with the marine ambulance and the cliff rescue team, receiving ten commendations for his rescue work. He also served on the Flying Christine II and the Inshore Rescue boats.
Prior to becoming Chief Officer, Mr Dene was the Staff Officer responsible for training ambulance staff on island as well as being seconded to training centres in England, including the United World College of the Atlantic in South Wales. When he retired in 1990 the Bailiff held a reception in his honour and after his retirement he became a member of the St John Fellowship.
Neil Tucker who was appointed as Chief Ambulance Officer when Mike Dene retired in 1990 said “He was always very supportive of me as a successor. I was the youngest Chief Ambulance Officer in the British Isles, except one, when I was promoted and Mr Dene, as he was universally known, helped me to acclimatise to the new role. He accepted, with grace, changes I made as Chief even if he himself was not wholly keen on them, recognising that the Service had to change and move with the times. He also called into the station frequently during my 19 years as Chief to pay social calls and offer me advice, if I needed it – and also to tell me where he thought I was going wrong!”
“I also remember his sense of humour – he could frequently crack a few jokes in even serious situations, and was not afraid to make fun of himself. He had a solid faith and was devoted to ‘My Mary’ as he called his wife, and was very upset when she passed away, but he continued to live life to the full, in latter years particularly enjoying cruise holidays.”
Mr Dene was also a St Peter Port Douzenier and States member. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.
The pair were called to attend to a visiting French yachtsman who had fallen into the Victoria Marina from his yacht, sustaining a serious leg injury in the middle of the night.
Luckily, the patient had been rescued from the water prior to their arrival. As Robin is of French nationality, he was able to communicate clearly with the casualty and offer him reassurance in his own language.
The transfer of the patient was made difficult due to the low state of tide at the time and dangerous due to the crew working so close to the water.
Between them, and with the assistance of bystanders and harbour staff, Robin and Ben were able to safely secure the casualty and recover him from the marina pontoon to the ambulance, where he was made comfortable and before being transferred to hospital.
Chief Ambulance Officer Mark Mapp said: “This was a challenging incident for the ambulance crew, but both Ben and Robin managed situation excellently and ensured the patient received the care, reassurance and treatment they needed, as well as the safe extrication of the casualty under difficult circumstances and another example of the excellent care provided Guernsey’s ambulance crews.”
The shop will remain open for business until a closing date is announcedSt John is now focusing on supporting the Healthcare shop staff and customers affected by the announcement.
The Healthcare Shop and St John Training Services are a separate entity to the St John Ambulance Guernsey charity and the St John Ambulance & Rescue Service, so the activities of the charity and the operations of the Emergency Ambulance Service will be unaffected by the closure of the Healthcare Shop. St John Training Services will continue to operate, delivering first aid training to local businesses and the community.
Historically, the Healthcare Shop has existed to supply on-island consumers and businesses with healthcare products, with any net cash generated being donated to support the wider charitable endeavours of St John charities in Guernsey.
The Healthcare Shop has been managed with oversight by the St John Commercial Services Ltd. board of directors. The board has considered a range of strategic options to ensure the ongoing viability of the company, but despite the best efforts of committed managers and their team, this has not proved feasible at acceptable levels of risk.
Chairman of the board of St John Commercial Services, Ben Le Huray, explained: “It is with sadness and regret that we have had to make this very difficult decision. This has been a terrible, soul-searching process for all involved. We have explored numerous options to maintain the Healthcare Shop in its current form, but unfortunately we could not arrive at a sustainable solution. Numerous factors have compounded the scale of the Healthcare Shop’s challenges, including Covid and post-Brexit related trading interruptions, a worsening general retail environment as Europe enters a recessionary era, the cost of living crisis, as experienced by other retailers and service sectors, topped off by a devastating flood in the shop earlier this year.
“Our thoughts are with the Healthcare staff who are a truly dedicated and hardworking team. We will be providing them with ongoing support at this uncertain and difficult time. We are also working through the implications for customers and suppliers in as constructive and supportive a manner as possible, in order to minimise the impact of this decision.”
John Hollis, Knight Commander and chairman of the Commandery of St John in Guernsey said: “This is a terribly sad but unavoidable decision which the SJCS board concluded they had to take, at a horrible time for all affected, especially after all the efforts by many to pursue alternative ways forward. However, in the current very difficult economic and funding environment, they appeared to have been faced with the same inescapable logic as many other small-scale organisations.”
Mr Hollis also provided confirmation that the difficult decisions taken by the board of St John Commercial Services about the Healthcare Shop would have no impact on the operations of the separately constituted St John Ambulance and Rescue Service (SJARS) and the provision of emergency ambulance services to the community.
“The emergency ambulance service is an entirely separate entity, with its own board of directors, segregated funding and staffing arrangements. Due to the caring, professional diligence of a superb frontline team, SJARS has continued to perform in Guernsey with good response times and a high standard of care for islanders at their time of greatest need.
Mr Hollis concluded that, “We are living in very difficult economic and social times, perhaps the worst for at least a generation. Like other organisations, a St John board of directors may therefore sometimes be forced to take decisions with very difficult implications. St John personnel invariably try to do their utmost to provide services to the community that can be funded, in line with their “Caring for Life” ethos. The St John entities therefore welcome all those in our community who can assist in an appropriate professional, voluntary or charitable funding basis.”
Guernsey’s Lieutenant Governor has presented four members of the island’s emergency ambulance service with the Ambulance Service (Emergency Duties) Long Service and Good Conduct Medal at a special ceremony at Government House.
Paul Philips joined the Service in 2002 and completed his initial training at the Ambulance Training College in Chippenham. Paul has also been a dedicated volunteer crew member of the marine ambulance Flying Christine III since which he joined in 1985 as an engineer. During his ambulance career Paul was involved with all of the rescue areas of the Service and was an instructor for the Inshore Rescue Boats.
Paul continues to be a regular member of the standard party at ceremonial events throughout the year and attended Remembrance Sunday at the London Cenotaph several years ago as part of the Civilian Services Contingent. Paul has many notable achievements from his time with the Service, one of which is when he sailed a car from Guernsey to Sark in 1994 to raise £7,500 in donations for the Flying Christine III.
Paramedic John Atkins has over twenty-four years of experience in healthcare, with over twenty of those as a registered healthcare professional. John joined the ambulance service in 1997 and rose through the ranks to be appointed as Acting Assistant Chief Officer in 2012. John left the Service to take up roles in business continuity and then as the Resuscitation Officer at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital. In 2019 John became the Medical Services Manager at the Silverstone motor racing circuit and also their Lead Paramedic. At this time John also worked part time as an operational paramedic with the East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust. John was an active member of the volunteer section of St John Ambulance Guernsey between June 1991 to July 2005 principally involved in training and youth work.
John has now returned to Guernsey with his family and is again working as a bank paramedic with the Service and has taken up the role of Assistant Training Manager with the Institute of Health and Social Care Studies.
Head of Operations Dean De La Mare joined the ambulance service in 1999, initially with the Patient Transport Service and progressed to become a Paramedic and then a Station Officer in 2007. In 2009 Dean completed the training to become a Paramedic Tutor, regularly teaching first aid to members of the public as well as training ambulance clinicians. Dean regularly parades at ceremonial events on behalf of the Service, including twice attending Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph in London as part of the Civilian Services Contingent. In 2019 he was promoted to Deputy Chief Ambulance Officer and is now Head of Operations for the Service.
His connection to St John dates back to when he was just 8 years old. He later becoming involved in leading the youth sections of the St John charity and in 2015 Dean was appointed as an Officer of the Order of St John.
Chief Ambulance Officer Mark Mapp joined the service in 1998, and progressed from working on PTS to becoming a Paramedic trainer. Mark was actively involved in all of the rescue activities, as an inshore lifeboat coxswain he faced several dangerous and challenging incidents. In 2005 Mark spent time working with the East Anglian Ambulance Service then on returning to Guernsey, Mark worked as a Bank Paramedic with the Service.
In 2010 Mark transferred to the Nursing Directorate at Health & Social Care and continued to work closely with the ambulance aervice to develop and improve work areas in education, clinical governance and emergency planning. In 2019 Mark returned to full time operations with the ambulance service as a Senior Officer before being promoted to the position of Chief Officer. Mark has responsibility for Guernsey’s ambulance service and works with various governmental agencies to implement a new and sustainable model of service. Mark continues to be a Community First Responder and maintains his paramedic skills operationally.
EMT Tim Hitchin was unable to attend the Government House ceremony, but was presented with his long service award by the Knight Commander of St John Guernsey John Hollis at a seperate event. 
Paramedics Nick Peters and Lorna Bichard and Paramedic Officer Steve Torode recieved the award for their teamwork and the care they provided to a casualty with a serious limb injury in a remote part of Herm Island.
They were presented with their awards by the Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey, Lieutenant General Richard Cripwell in a ceremony at Government House.
The crew responded onboard the Flying Christine III marine ambulance following a request from the Herm Community First Responders (CFRs), to a visitor who had fallen on Belvoir hill. 
Following initial assessment and treatment at the scene, the patient was transported, secured in a vacuum mattress, on the Herm Island ‘Gator’ quad bike in preparation for transfer to the marine ambulance. Due to the location and a particularly low tide, the RNLI Inshore Recue Boat was requested to transfer the casualty from Shell Beach to the Flying Christine III.
The ambulance team worked closely with the Herm CFRs and the RNLI crew, resulting in a safe and efficient rescue of the casualty, co-ordinated by Paramedic Officer Steve Torode.
Chief Ambulance Officer Mark Mapp said: ”Lorna, Nick and Steve are recognised for their care and compassionate clinical treatment of the casualty as well as their excellent team work, co-ordination and communication with the other agencies involved, which ensured the safe extrication and transfer of the casualty back to St Peter Port.”
