Cruise ship call out for paramedics

Monday 23 July 2018

Guernsey's paramedics had to visit a cruise ship to rescue a man suffering from a serious medical condition.

The St John marine ambulance The Flying Christine III responded to a call from the Oriana yesterday morning.

The patient was known to be suffering from a "serious medical condition requiring urgent treatment on the island" so an ambulance crew was dispatched immediately.

A paramedic and emergency medical technician, a volunteer skipper and engineer all left St Peter Port Harbour shortly after 08:00 heading to the cruise liner where the patient was examined before being transferred to the Flying Christine for further assessment where the decision was made to transport him back to the harbour and to the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.

This was just one of 27 incidents the St John Emergency Ambulance Service dealt with between 18:00 on Saturday evening and 18:00 on Sunday evening meaning it was another busy weekend for the crews on shift and those staff who had to be called in to help out.

Other calls included a road traffic collision, falls, trauma related incidents and a number of medical conditions.  St John staff and volunteers were also on duty at the Hill Climb, the Seafront Sunday event, Power Boating and the Les Bourgs visit to Jethou.