Ambulance Services
The States of Jersey Ambulance Service provides emergency and high dependency care and transport for the people of Jersey at a time when, through an accident or illness, they are most vulnerable. The frontline Service is made up of Paramedics and Technicians with the Paramedic being the senior member of an accident and emergency crew (other than the shift leader who is a Leading Ambulance Paramedic). Paramedics are trained to use advanced life support techniques and can administer a range of drugs for the emergency treatment of a number of medical and trauma conditions.
Paramedics play an important part in achieving the Coronary Heart Disease standard that “people thought to be suffering from a heart attack should be assessed professionally and, if indicated, receive aspirin and that thrombolysis should be given within sixty minutes of calling for professional help”. The introduction of twelve lead ECG machines to determine type and severity of heart attacks, so enabling administration of thrombolytic (clot busting drugs) has been achieved.
In 2004, one hundred and seventy-two emergency and planned Air Ambulance flights were made to and from United Kingdom and European airports at all hours of the day and night, many at very short notice.
Operating Environment
The Service has approximately seventy staff providing Ambulance and related services to the 87,186 resident population, distributed across a total land area of 28,716 acres (45 square miles). The Service manages the whole of the fleet for H&SS and operates:
- Nine emergency Ambulances
- Thirteen Ambulance vehicles for the transportation of non-emergency patients to and from hospitals, clinics, other healthcare centres, care homes and people’s homes
- Three Major Incident vehicles
- One single manned Paramedic response car
- Two Officer command cars
- Thirty-six lease hire cars for health staff working in the community (reduced from 59)
- Seventy-six other specialist vehicles for the provision of support functions and other activities for H&SS
- Fifteen voluntary Hospital Car Service drivers
During 2004 the Service dealt with 5,846 emergency/999 calls; 1,502 urgent GP admissions and 1,166 routine planned calls for those patients requiring a stretcher and low level of care. 172 Air Ambulance flights were undertaken transferring patients for emergency specialist treatment in the UK. 41,124 patient journeys were undertaken by our Patient Transport Services with an additional 16,570 journeys provided by the voluntary Hospital Car Service.
