SERV Wessex: Meet the blood runners supplying hospitals and Hampshire Air Ambulance
Volunteers have made over 7,000 deliveries since pandemic began
A charity which provides a free medical courier service to the NHS and patients across South Wiltshire, Hampshire and East Dorset says its proud of its work during the pandemic.
Since 2020 volunteers from SERV Wessex have made 7,000 deliveries of blood and blood products along with samples and urgent medicine and equipment to hospitals in the region including Salisbury District Hospital.
The team have clocked up more than 400,000 miles covering the distance for free for the NHS with the majority of volunteers on motorbikes.
The charity were much in demand during the pandemic and started operating a 24 hour service in April 2020 which is still continuing today delivering medication from hospital in hosue pharmacies to vulnerable and shielding patients in the community.
The high vis heroes also resupply Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance and critical care cars with the blood and plasma they carry every 24hrs.
The volunteers also provide an ad-hoc service to transport heart monitors and human milk. Human milk is collected from mums and then delivered to the Milk Bank at Princess Anne Hospital, Southampton and then if required further distributed to Neonatal Hospitals in our area of operation.
Further afield
SERV Wessex has also teamed with another group to help speed up the transportation of vital products.
The Civil Air Support Group are pilots with private planes who help when stem cells from Wessex Genetics based at Salisbury District Hospital need to go further afield.
One of the blood runners will take the precious cargo to Thruxton airport where it will then be flown to it's destination.
The chair of SERV Wessex Robert Smith has likened it to their "very own flying arm"
Recognition
In June of this year SERV Wessex were awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service, this was in recognition of their contribution during the pandemic.
The Blood Runners were nominated bythe Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth.
The team now proudly display the QAVS logo on their vehicles and wear the bin badges on their jacket.
More volunteers needed
The charity is always on the look out for more volunteers particularly dispatchers who work from the comfort of their own home.
You can find out more about the charity here: servwessex.org.uk