Yorkshire Ambulance Service at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Thursday, 19 July, 2012
YAS Olympics Team
Twenty-eight staff from Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust have volunteered for secondments with London Ambulance Service to help the millions of spectators expected at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Frontline clinicians and staff from emergency operations centres and support services across the region will make up the 440 NHS ambulance staff who will provide emergency assistance at Games venues and fringe events.
The Trust's volunteers head to the capital on 23 July 2012 and will spend over three weeks supporting the Games at the full range of Olympic venues including the Velodrome, Aquatics Centre and Olympic Stadium, as well as supporting fringe events taking place in Hyde Park and at other venues. Thirteen volunteers will then provide support during the Paralympic Games which begin on 29 August 2012.
The volunteers have all taken part in specialist training with London Ambulance Service to learn about their protocols, equipment and operational procedures and will go through four days of intensive training on arrival to prepare them for their stint in London. A number of the volunteers also took part in an exercise back in May to test the response of all emergency services to incidents ahead of the Games.
The volunteers are part of a pre-planned mutual aid agreement between English ambulance trusts which is helping London Ambulance Service to draft in 200 extra staff from across the country to help it cope with an anticipated increase in demand of between 4% and 5% during the Games.
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Yorkshire Ambulance Service Chief Executive David Whiting, said: "We are immensely proud of our involvement in the London 2012 Olympic Games. Having successfully supported the Olympic Torch's journey through the region, we will soon see 28 of our staff head to London to support the Games themselves.
"The size of the challenge facing London Ambulance Service as the city puts on the 'greatest show on earth' shouldn't be under-estimated. We have been working with them for two years to prepare for the Olympics and are delighted that we can do our bit to support a safe and successful London Games.
"As far as day-to-day services across the Yorkshire and Humber region are concerned, it will very much be business as usual during the Games. We have planned very carefully to ensure there will be no impact on services here as a result of our staff supporting the Games in the capital."
