St Bartholomew’s welcomes St John Ambulance volunteers
Student volunteers from the charity joined the hospital this week to support our response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following an induction process, an initial team of around 15 individuals will help by welcoming patients at the front door and screening them for symptoms of Covid-19.
They will also form part of the team that is swabbing patients for the virus.
Volunteers will be identifiable by their iconic green uniform, which is associated with providing first aid and emergency medical services at events up and down the country each week.
St John volunteers have played a key role throughout the pandemic keeping the public safe, including in emergency departments and on wards, at blood donation sessions and, more recently, at sporting events which have restarted following the easing of the lockdown.
In total, they’ve spent more than 130,000 hours on the frontline of the fight against Covid-19.
At St Bartholomew’s, they will work alongside our current volunteers and redeployed staff to provide reassurance to patients, many of whom may be visiting hospital for the first time since the pandemic began.
Their role is particularly important in helping to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the hospital and making sure patients are in good health before their procedure.
Their deployment will also allow some hospital staff to return to their normal roles.
Each of the team is a qualified first aider or advanced first aider and have received additional St John Ambulance Covid-19 training in line with Government recommendations and clinical expertise from NHS England.
The health and first aid charity is supporting the NHS and communities in its biggest deployment during peacetime, to meet the challenge of the COVID-19 crisis.
St Bartholomew’s Hospital service manager Sergio Rodrigues said: “The coronavirus pandemic has placed enormous pressure on the NHS and many of these challenges remain. The support of St John Ambulance volunteers is crucial in allowing us to continue to provide the safe care our patients need.
“We are so grateful for their help.”
For more information visit the St John Ambulance website
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