‘Blood bikes’ set to save lives
A new health service is due to hit the road in West Norfolk next month offering an out-of-hours blood courier service to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Service by Emergency Rider Volunteers Norfolk (SERV) is a voluntary organisation that will serve the NHS in the county, delivering vital materials such as blood, plasma, platelets, samples, vaccines, donor breast milk and other urgently required medical items to hospitals out of working hours.
The service is provided completely free of charge, allowing the NHS to divert funds where they are needed most and has been supported by local business Adrian Flux Insurance, which has sponsored the West Norfolk motorcycle.
Run by dedicated volunteers who receive no financial compensation for their time or costs, the group comes under the umbrella of the national SERV organisation, which has been providing a courier service to the NHS for 30 years.
After going live in West Norfolk, the service will then be rolled out across the county to offer the free collection and delivery service to other hospitals in Norwich and Gorleston.
“At the moment, if medics need blood or plasma out-of-hours, they have to rely on couriers from the private sector or taxis, which are very expensive,” said county secretary David Parish.
“I think we are all very aware of the fact that it might be us who needs help from the NHS one day, and this is our way of saying thank you.”
SERV Norfolk has around 80 registered riders who will sign up for shifts on the “blood bike” rota and who have been trained in the correct handling methods.
Fundraising efforts are currently under way to raise the cash to buy, maintain and run two motorcycles – one based in the east of the county and the other in the west. It is estimated that annual running costs will be approximately £20,000.
On September 17 and 18, riders from SERV Norfolk will complete the East to West Challenge, a sponsored motorcycle ride from Lowestoft to Lands End and back within 24 hours.
“We would ask as many people as possible to support us so that we can support the hospitals. We’ve had a great response from local businesses – Adrian Flux Insurance is sponsoring one of our bikes and we’re hopeful that we’ll find people to sponsor our tyres and so forth,” said Mr Parish.
Robert Balls, of specialist motorcycle broker Bikesure, a division of Adrian Flux Insurance, said: “We’re very aware that it can be difficult to insure such a specialised type of motorcycle, so we were delighted to offer sponsorship. It’s a great scheme and we wish SERV all the best in the future.”
It is hoped that SERV Norfolk will go live in West Norfolk on September 30.
For information about SERV Norfolk, to sponsor riders on the East to West Challenge, or to offer corporate sponsorship, visit servnorfolk.org.uk.
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Thursday 23 February 2012
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