Further unclaimed Christmas Lottery money has enabled St John Emergency Ambulance Service to buy a new vacuum mattress and six emergency evacuation slings.

The service has been awarded £2,264 of prize winnings, to buy the equipment, after the States of Guernsey received £290,000 of the unclaimed money available last year.

The grant for the equipment comes after the service was awarded nearly £4,000, from the same fund, to pay for much needed scoop stretchers in 2015.

Vacuum mattresses can dramatically reduce the pain and fear patients face when they are injured by molding to the body without applying pressure and making them more comfortable.

St John are regularly required to move injured individuals in challenging situations and the emergency evacuation slings make this a smoother, more comfortable process. The slings can be placed beneath a patient in a restricted space, for example a crashed car, with minimal disturbance and no requirement to roll; reducing the risk of further injury.

Carrie Goodall, Senior Officer at St John Emergency Ambulance Service said: “The Vacuum mattress is an incredibly valuable piece of equipment to the service and will allow us to ensure the upmost comfort for patients. Likewise, the emergency evacuation slings will allow our team to move people comfortably without having to use the top and tail lifting method that can be detrimental to staff as well as patients.

“We are extremely grateful to have received this money from the unclaimed lottery funds. We have now received the new equipment and are looking forward to getting it into service. With these additions St John will continue to provide the best possible care to the community.”