Patients picked up in Herm and Alderney

Thursday 25 July 2024

The Flying Christine has been deployed twice already this week after incidents in Alderney and Herm left patients needing hospital treatment in Guernsey.

On Tuesday, a medical condition meant a person in Alderney needed to be taken to the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.

The volunteer crew had the Flying Christine in the sea and on the way to Alderney by 13:00, before bringing the patient back to Guernsey by 16:00.

An ambulance was waiting to take them straight to the Emergency Department of the PEH. Their condition is unknown.

On Wednesday evening, the volunteer crew was called out again after a person on board a boat anchored off Shell Beach  was injured in an incident.

The Flying Christine set off for Herm just after 18:00, with a paramedic led medical team and an ambulance incident officer on board. 

They assessed the patient before transferring them to the marine ambulance where further treatment was given, before bringing them back to St Peter Port. They were then taken to the Emergency Department at the PEH.

This came just days after a quad bike accident in Herm left an island staff member needing hospital treatment. They were also brought back to Guernsey using the Flying Christine.

Neither patient's conditions is known. 

These three incidents, in less than a week, make up almost a third of all call outs for the marine ambulance since it returned to service at the end of May.

The 30-year-old charitable asset, funded and maintained entirely by public donations, had been subject to a two-phase refit and refurbishment to extend its lifespan for another decade.

Pictured: The Flying Christine on an earlier shout. (Dylan Ray) 

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