St John Ambulance Guernsey has received a donation of £10,000 for the marine ambulance fund from the owners of Jethou Island.
The generous gift was made by the Ogden Trust to support the Flying Christine III, which celebrated it’s 25th anniversary in November last year.
The Flying Christine III is equipped like a road ambulance and staffed by a paramedic led medical team from the emergency ambulance service and crewed by volunteers from the local maritime community. It provides a lifeline service for the other islands of the Bailiwick and vessels in local waters.
Chief Ambulance Officer Mark Mapp said: “I would like to thank Sir Peter Ogden for his generous donation to the Flying Christine fund. The St John marine ambulance relies on public support and charitable donations to operate. This is a significant gift and will help St John continue to provide this essential service for the Bailiwick. Having served on the marine ambulance as a paramedic I know how important the service is to people living in the other islands. This support is greatly appreciated.”
The current Flying Christine, which is based in St Peter Port harbour is the third St John marine ambulance and was launched in November 1994. The vessel is designed to cut through waves rather than ride on the surface of the sea to give patients as smooth a ride as possible. The wheelhouse is positioned well forward to provide a large treatment area with stretcher and medical equipment to allow paramedics a comfortable space for assessing and treating patients. The stern deck has steps to water level to enable patients to be recovered from the water in a stretcher, and can be used for transfer to helicopter if necessary.