Joint media statement - Friday 10th June

Sark Fire & Rescue Service and Guernsey Fire & Rescue Service have today deployed firefighters to assist the multi-agency response in tackling a gorse fire on Little Sark, which started this morning.
 
At the time of this statement, the fire is believed to cover an area of approximately 20,000 msq, but it is now under control and fire crews will continue to dampen down. Crews do not expect it will spread further. No properties were directly affected by the fire, and water jets are in position to protect those buildings if needed.
 
Unfortunately, five firefighters from Guernsey were injured shortly after arriving in Sark, while travelling to assist at the scene. All five have been assessed by Sark doctor and first responders as having non-life threating injuries.
 
Guernsey Ambulance & Rescue supported with the response, sending the Flying Christine III to Sark with a medical crew and incident officer on board. They were met at the harbour by the Sark Ambulance. The firefighters have been transferred to Guernsey’s Emergency Department, via the marine ambulance, for further treatment. Two road ambulances, a patient transfer vehicle and operational commander were waiting for them at St Peter Port harbour to transfer them to the Princess Elizabeth hospital. The five firefighters are also expected to be discharged from the PEH today. Additional firefighters have been deployed to Sark on board the Flying Christine III to maintain the emergency response.
 
The current north/north easterly wind direction means that the fire is not expected to spread, as it is blowing out to sea.
 
We would like to thank the emergency services, volunteers and island community for their support and assistance during this challenging incident.
 
All agencies worked well together to respond to those affected by the incident. Our thoughts remain with our injured colleagues, and our hopes are for a full and speedy recovery.

Celebrating International Paramedics Day.

Emily is originally from Guernsey and attended Blanchelande College before moving to the UK to train as a paramedic.

She qualified in 2019 with the University of Hertfordshire and went on to work for South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

After five years in the NHS, she returned to Guernsey and has been working as a paramedic here since June 2024.

Emily said: “Being a paramedic is a privilege. You meet people on some of the worst days of their lives, and it means a lot to be able to bring a sense of calm, reassurance and care when things feel frightening or uncertain. Working in Guernsey makes that feel even more personal, because this is our Island and our community and there is often some connection to the people we help.

“It can be a tough job, physically and emotionally, but it is also one with a lot of purpose. I feel proud to be part of a team that keeps showing up for people when they need us most.”

nternational Paramedics Day is not just about paramedics, it is a celebration of all emergency medical responders who deliver expert care and compassion to our community.

In Guernsey we employ Paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians and Emergency Care Assistants on the frontline blue light service. We also have Ambulance Care Assistants working across our Patient Transfer Service.

Blaise is an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in Guernsey. She went to school at St Sampsons High and joined the ambulance service in 2019. She did her initial training on island and then qualified with West Midlands Ambulance Service.

Blaise said: “I love the job because I love being there for our community, helping people out when they are going through difficult experiences and making it better, whether that’s just by checking them over and reassuring them, or by giving treatment and getting them to the appropriate place to continue patient care.

I also love working with my team, which consists of ECA’s, EMT’s and Paramedics. We all work together as a unit, and we will always be there for each other. Nothing is more important than having a close working relationship with your team. We spend long hours at work with our team, so we all understand the hardships and challenges we face. I love our community and will always dedicate myself to caring for them. I’m so proud to work as an EMT alongside ECA’s and Paramedics, and I do what I do knowing I’m making positive impacts on people’s lives.”

Chief Ambulance Officer John Atkins said: “International Paramedics Day is not just about paramedics, it is about recognising the valuable, often life-saving work carried out by all ambulance clinicians. In Guernsey our highly skilled paramedics work alongside Emergency Medical Technicians and Emergency Care Assistants, while in Alderney our Emergency Ambulance Crews are supported by a Paramedic Team Leader and Paramedic Leads. We also work closely with staff in Primary Care, HSC and the voluntary sector, with one common goal, to provide the right person-centred care, in the right place at the right time.”


International Paramedics Day takes place every year on July 8 because this marks the anniversary of the birth of Dominique Jean Larrey, the French military doctor who became Napoleon Bonaparte’s chief surgeon of the Grand Armee and the man often referred to as the ‘father of modern-day
ambulance services.’

Guernsey’s experience in prehospital care for aging populations could offer solutions for other jurisdictions.

An American emergency medicine student has visited Guernsey’s St John Ambulance & Rescue Service to learn more about international emergency and prehospital care.

23-year-old Kenzie Bay, who studied Health and Humanism at Whitman College, spent two weeks with ambulance crews in Guernsey and Alderney for a project which compares advanced care models, with those in less well-resourced jurisdictions.

The fact-finding tour, which was funded by the Watson Foundation, also took Kenzie to Tanzania, India, Thailand, Nepal, Estonia, Norway, the U.K. and El Salvador.

Kenzie said: “I have designed my project to learn about the delivery of care across various modes of transportation and diverse geographies, and how communities build and adapt the emergency care system to fit the environmental context.”

Reflecting on her experience in the islands she said: “The ambulance service in Guernsey is a testament to the idea that EMS is shaped by its community, it has been built and supported by its residents since the start and is specifically designed to support the Guernsey environment. The involvement of fire services, community first responders with AEDs, and the Flying Christine III are all components of extending the ambulance service’s reach and delivering care to small islands without the ease of access to a metropolitan EMS system.”

She added: “I also observed how professional relationships and patient care are influenced by community size, as relationships and rapport were often already established between ambulance, hospital, and firefighting staff, allowing for more efficient and greater continuity of care. Given the greater proportion of elderly patients in the population, exposure to this patient group was higher than I had previously experienced. I appreciated the opportunity to learn from skilled Paramedics, EMTs and ECAs who have become highly knowledgeable at assessing and managing this specific patient population with multiple comorbidities, polypharmacy, and complex social contexts.”

Kenzie also spent some time in Alderney, where the ambulance service is a satellite service provided by Guernsey’s Ambulance & Rescue Service and run by a small but dedicated team of ambulance crew. This was the smallest healthcare system of all those she visited.

“Alderney was a fascinating environment to learn from, as the EMS system has to plan around a higher level of uncertainty and preparedness while balancing the appropriate level of staffing and resources for the community’s size. The island occupies a difficult position in systems development as it is too large to rely primarily on a community first responder model like Sark or Herm, yet too small to warrant the level of services present in Guernsey. Determining the level of resources in Alderney is further complicated by the island’s need for external assistance in the event of high-acuity cases, along with the consideration that access to external resources may be delayed by weather or other operational constraints. While navigating this geographical tension is not necessarily unique it is a good example of geography remaining a pivotal determinant of emergency care requiring resiliency of resources to mitigate its impact and ensure equitable access to emergency care

“What also interested me about Alderney was that it illustrated how scope of practice is often determined by contextual evaluation, rather than being standardised. Compared with Guernsey, ambulance staff practice with greater autonomy and scope because the environment requires such flexibility in protocols. This is an excellent example within my project of how geographic challenges, delayed access to definitive care, and limited local resources can necessitate broader decision-making responsibilities. Providers in Alderney must also balance clinical readiness and clinical exposure and work to maintain proficiency in low-frequency, high-acuity events,” she added.

During her time in Guernsey and Alderney Kenzie attended joint training between the ambulance and fire service, involving complex patient extrication, and pit-stop CPR.

Away from the clinical aspect of her visit Kenzie also had the opportunity to enjoy Guernsey’s stunning coastline and beaches, going for a swim with the team after a shift which is a common shared activity for many of Guernsey’s ambulance crews.

Reflecting on her learning Kenzie draw comparisons between the Guernsey system and the charity and volunteer-driven EMS system in Thailand, as well as the public-private partnership in India.

“From the standpoint of a high-income island environment, Guernsey is a great example of a proportionally designed system, with an approach heavily focused on scale, geography, and community needs. The system in Guernsey is about building and maintaining a system that strikes the right balance: enough resources but not too many, enough scope and specialization but not excessive; and not at the cost of generality,” she said.

“While many countries are preparing for and beginning to feel the effects of an aging population, Guernsey is already experiencing this in its day-to-day operations. Ambulance staff have honed their assessment of frailty, polypharmacy, and complex comorbidities. They are aware of the complexities and pitfalls of prehospital care and social services when managing a growing number of elderly patients. Therefore, providers in Guernsey may have useful insights into the challenges that many ambulance services will increasingly face over the coming decades.”

The Bailiwick’s marine ambulance has responded to urgent medical cases in Sark, Alderney and Herm, with four calls in the space of four days.

On Tuesday Flying Christine III was sent to Alderney for a patient requiring urgent transfer for treatment in Guernsey. A paramedic-led ambulance crew travelled from St Peter Port and following a handover at the Mignot Memorial Hospital the patient was conveyed to Braye Harbour and back to Guernsey.

Two days later the marine ambulance was deployed to Herm following a call from the Herm Community First Responder. A patient with a medical condition was assessed by a paramedic and transferred to Guernsey and onwards via road ambulance to the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.

The following morning the Sark doctor requested a medevac for a patient needing further treatment and urgent transport to Guernsey. Later the same day, the Flying Christine III returned for an injured person who was transferred onboard using a basket stretcher and given treatment by paramedics on route back to Guernsey. The marine ambulance was met by a second crew at St Peter Port harbour and the patient was taken to the Emergency Department.

The Ambulance & Rescue service would like to thank the volunteer Flying Christine boat-crews who give their time and expertise free of charge to ensure safe passage for the medical teams and patients.

The Flying Christine III is a purpose-designed marine ambulance, which delivers a lifeline service to the islands of the Bailiwick. The boat is a charitable asset, provided by St John Ambulance & Rescue. The vessel was built with public support and continues to operate through a combination of subscriptions and charges alongside sponsorship, charitable donations and fundraising.

The Flying Christine floating car proved a big hit with the crowds at the Harbour Carnival.

Hundreds of people came along to say hello, see the floating car and support the Flying Christine III fundraising appeal. Our new head-in-the-hole photo boards also proved a huge hit.

The bright yellow car is making an appearance at lots of summer events before the volunteer crew members embark on their challenge to sail the car from St Peter Port to Herm and onto Sark later this year.

The Bailiwick’s marine ambulance has been deployed four times in three days, responding to emergency calls in Herm and Sark.

Flying Christine III was sent to Sark twice on Thursday for medical calls. The first case followed a 999 call and a subsequent request from the Sark doctor. The volunteer crew transported the paramedic-led medical team to Sark where they were met by the doctor and the island’s ambulance. The patient was given treatment and was conveyed back to Guernsey for further care. A second patient from an unrelated case was also taken to Guernsey at the request of the doctor.

Shortly before 10pm on Thursday night Flying Christine III  was deployed for the second emergency case, with two patients arriving in St Peter Port just over an hour later. Both patients were taken by waiting road ambulance to the Princess Elizabeth Hospital, with on-going monitoring by the paramedic crew.

The marine ambulance was back in action on Friday evening, with an urgent call to Herm, following a request from the Herm Community First Responder. The patient was carried on to the Flying Christine and treated by the medical team on the return to St Peter Port.

The fourth case was just before 8o’clock on Saturday morning, with a call to Sark. The Guernsey based ambulance crew was transported to Sark on the Flying Christine and following a handover from the Sark GP the patient was conveyed to Guernsey and onward to the Emergency Department.

The Ambulance & Rescue service would like to thank the volunteer Flying Christine boat crew for responding to the four cases.

The Flying Christine III is a purpose-designed marine ambulance, which delivers a lifeline service to the islands of the Bailiwick. The boat is a charitable asset, provided by St John Ambulance & Rescue. The vessel was built with public support and continues to operate through a combination of subscriptions and charges alongside sponsorship, charitable donations and fundraising.

Guernsey Museum is hosting an exhibition of photos telling the story of St John Ambulance and Rescue Service from its humble beginings in 1936, through the pioneering years of the 50s and 60s, to the modern day paramedic-led ambulance service of today.

Former employees and supporters were among those who attended the opening of the exhibition, which took place on 2nd June, exactly 90 years after the first ambulance left the Rohais on the service’s first emergency call. 

Chief Ambulance Officer, John Atkins said: “At around 5 pm, on Tuesday, 2nd June 1936, an ambulance from Guernsey’s fledgling St John Ambulance Brigade responded to a call for help – the first such call since St John had taken over the running of the island’s ambulance service from the States of Guernsey. 

As we gather here this afternoon, ninety years and many thousands of emergency calls later, we look back with both fondness and admiration, at everything the St John Ambulance & Rescue Service, as it is known today, has achieved throughout that time.

We are grateful to the Guernsey Museums Service for producing a series of tryptic information boards which, with the benefit of some wonderful photographs and accompanying narratives, tell our story pictorially throughout the last nine decades and I hope, if you have not already done so, you will spend some time enjoying and reflecting on the memories which are featured.

From our earliest days, under the visionary and pioneering leadership of our founder, Reg Blanchford, the Service has always strived to do the best it can for the community it serves.  We may be a small service, but we can justifiably be exceptionally proud of our achievements. 

Today, the St John Ambulance & Rescue Service is a modern ambulance service, employing skilled and competent Registered Paramedics who provide advanced pre-hospital care, with sustained performance and quality statistics that make us the envy of the NHS ambulance services on the UK mainland.

The exhibition at Candie Gardens, St Peter Port, is free and will remain in place  till 6th September 2026.

“St John has been caring for communities and saving lives for over 900 years. Our longevity is due to our deep roots in the communities we serve and our ability to adapt to changing needs and contexts.  From our largest Priories in some of the world’s biggest countries – Canada and Australia – to small and brilliant Associations in Malawi and the Solomon Islands, St John staff and volunteers train community members in life-saving first aid, work with young people to develop leadership and life skills as well as first aid, and provide vital emergency ambulance services. Being part of the St John global family connects our people to a vast community of skills, innovation and experience, and there is no better example of this than St John in Guernsey. Your outstanding contribution to the life of the islands, the work of your dedicated ambulance staff and volunteers and your determination to get better, do more and save more lives represents the best of St John. Your commitment to sharing what you’ve done and to communicating what we do and who we are is an example that you don’t have to be big to be great. Congratulations on your 90th birthday.
Susan le Jeune d’Allegeershecque
Secretary General, St John International

Matt Harvey from Guernsey Museum said: “It was my pleasure to represent the Museum and serve as the curator on the creation of this display. But most importantly it has been wonderful to work with the people within the St John Ambulance & Rescue Service. People who are so obviously passionate about their organisation, the service that it provides to the island, its history and how far it has come over the last 9 decades.

My thanks go to out the Team at Ambulance & Rescue for pulling together historic and modern photographs as well as information from their archives. We combined this with material from the Museum’s own archive to create a display which I hope has done their story justice.

I would particularly like to thank Jim Cathcart, John Atkins, Dean De La Mare, Gary Blanchford, Joan Tostevin and Anne Blanchford for their support, resources, insights and patience.

Further thanks go to the Digital Designers James Gray and Richard Helpe and the Team at Dowding Signs.”

On 2nd June 1936, at 5pm, the first ambulance left the Rohais to respond to an emergency call marking the start of a new chapter in the island’s history.

It was the brainchild of Reg Blanchford who years earlier had suffered life-threatening injuries in a motorcycle crash and was left waiting on the roadside for the States-run part-time ambulance to take him to hospital. His wait was so long a passing motorist picked him up and took him to the doctor. While recovering Reg decided there was a need for a dedicated ambulance service with trained personnel. 

After joining the St John Ambulance Brigade and much lobbying, Reg raised enough support and funding to by a second-hand ambulance, run by the newly formed Transport Division. It was funded through subscriptions and small grant from the States of Guernsey. He convinced his father to allow him to base it at the family concrete works on the Rohais. The ambulance service still operates from that site to this day. 

A few years later, in 1940, Guernsey was occupied by German forces. Despite the restrictions, St John continued to run the ambulance service throughout the Occupation, providing care for island who remained on the island.  

After the war the service grew with a number of pioneering developments during the 1950s and 60s, including the cliff rescue team, a diving team, inshore rescue boats, recompression chamber, and the world’s first marine ambulance Flying Christine. Ambulance crews not only treated sick and injured patients and conveying them to hospital, but also provided these essential rescue services. Staff were involved in countless daring rescues over the years, saving countless lives.

Guernsey was also the first place where mobile communications were installed in ambulances. It also had a dedicated mobile radar vehicle. 

These pioneering years made the St John Ambulance & Rescue Service one of the most unique and advanced in the world.

In the early days the paid staff of the service were supported by volunteers from the St John Ambulance Brigade. That historic link between the professional service and the St John volunteers remains today, with SJARS and the St John Ambulance Guernsey charity sister organisations of the same St John group. 

In recent times, the service has responded to the changing demands of the island community and while some of the original rescue elements are now the responsibility of other agencies, such as the RNLI and the fire service, SJARS is focused on providing excellent pre-hospital paramedic-led care to islanders.  The first paramedic was introduced in 1992, with the first female paramedic appointed in 1998. Today SJARS employs around 60 staff, made up of paramedics, emergency medical technicians, emergency care assistants, ambulance care assistants and support staff. 

St John provides the Ambulance Service on behalf of the States of Guernsey through a grant from the Committee for Health & Social Care. The grant is a contribution towards the operating costs of the service, with the remaining costs being met in a variety of ways including the subscription scheme and charges. 

Today, SJARS responds to around 10,000 cases every year, made up of approximately 7,000 emergency and urgent calls and a further 3,000 non-emergency patient transfers. It operates a fleet of 5 front line emergency ambulances, 3 rapid response cars, two patient transfer vehicles, on off-road vehicle and the Flying Christine III marine ambulance. St John also provides the ambulance service in Alderney and supports the community first responders and ambulance volunteers in Herm and Sark. The uniforms, vehicles and equipment may have changed but the ethos of serving the community with care, compassion and excellence continues, reflecting the values of the St John organisation, in the service of humanity. 

Volunteers from Guernsey’s marine ambulance are planning to drive a car from St Peter Port to Herm Island to raise vital funds for the Flying Christine III.

The event is a repeat of a similar challenge which took place in 1993 to help raise money for the building of the boat.

The team, who are all volunteer boat crew and experienced mariners, have been preparing the car to make it seaworthy and launched their fundraising initiative at the Seafront Sunday event on 17th May.

Gary Ward, Volunteer Operations Manager and former coxswain, who took part in the 1994 event, is leading the project. Gary said: “With the boat undergoing an essential mechanical overhaul, I decided it was a good opportunity to re-enact what Paul Phillips and myself did in 1993. We marinised a car then and sailed it from Guernsey to Sark raising several thousands of pounds. At the time, the new marine ambulance Flying Christine III was being built and funds were very short, so we wanted to do our bit and raise the profile.

“The crossing to Sark in 1993 was quite pleasant, it took just over two hours and the car stood up well. When we got to Sark, the Sark folk were extremely generous and they towed us around the island behind a tractor.

“We are now 33 years later, in a similar position where funds are much needed, not just for the renovation but for the longer-term financial future.  We have almost completed the new car conversion and I’d like to thank all of the volunteers and everyone else who has helped us get this far”.

Paul Phillips, volunteer Flying Christine engineer, was also part of the previous challenge with Gary, his dog Cass and Buz White. Paul added: “I remember feeling a bit apprehensive when we sailed last time but once we launched, it was a great feeling. We thought replicating this challenge would be a great way to once again raise funds some 33 years later.”

The team is hoping to raise as much money as possible through donations and sponsorship. Anyone wishing to donate can do so online at ambulance.gg, by sending a cheque made payable to ‘St John Ambulance and Rescue Service’, or by using the QR code below

‘90 Years of Service’: Outdoor exhibition celebrates St John Ambulance & Rescue Service

2026 marks the 90th Anniversary of the creation of the St John Ambulance & Rescue Service.  

To commemorate this milestone, Guernsey Museums & Galleries has partnered with the Ambulance Service to create ‘90 Years of Service’, a free outdoor display telling the story of those nine decades. 

Located on the terrace outside Guernsey Museum at Candie Gardens, the series of large outdoor display panels tell the story of the service in words and images.  The exhibition opens on 2 June, marking the actual anniversary of the start of the ambulance service. 

Historic photographs from the archives of both the Ambulance & Rescue Service and Guernsey Museums & Galleries have been combined with historical research to tell the story of the service and its role through the years.  

Visitors will be able to trace the service’s journey from its humble origins starting with one second-hand ambulance housed in a garage at a concrete works, to the large, comprehensive organisation the island relies on today. 

Matt. Harvey, Senior Curator at Guernsey Museums & Galleries, said:  “Guernsey Museums is delighted to be able to create a display representing such an important and venerated island organisation. The St John Ambulance & Rescue Service has been a lifeline to islanders since 1936 on both land and sea.  

Everyone knows the Ambulance & Rescue Service – they are part of the island landscape. But I hope that the display will give visitors a deeper appreciation of their amazing work and highlight the energy, dedication and initiative that their members have shown over the last 90 years. I hope people will discover the many examples of how the service has led the way in the development of innovative and ground-breaking advances in emergency response and first-aid care over the years.” 

Dean de la Mare, Head of Operations at St John Ambulance & Rescue Service, said: “2nd June marks a significant date in the island’s history as the anniversary of the first ambulance leaving the Rohais station and responding to an emergency call. This exhibition tells the story of the pioneering work of Reg Blanchford through to the modern pre-hospital healthcare service that delivers paramedic-led care today. It has been a great joint project working with Guernsey Museums and our team of contributors, and I am very excited to see the exhibition open to the public.” 

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