ST JOHN Ambulance (SJA) will be assisting the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service (IWAS) with 999 urgent and emergency responses as part of a national contingency strategy.

The charity is providing mutual aid in supporting the Island community during what continues to be an incredibly busy time for urgent and emergency services.

Throughout January and February the demand on the IW Ambulance Service has risen and Covid related staff absence has put additional pressure on the service.

Victoria White, head of IWAS, said: “We are thankful to St John Ambulance for offering to work alongside us, their support will help us continue to care for our community as efficiently and effectively as possible during the pandemic.”

St John Ambulance has highly-skilled and professional ambulance crews which include paramedics, emergency ambulance crew and technicians.

All the paramedics have a minimum of two years post-registration experience.

Dan Bevis, national head of ambulance operations, SJA said: “(Our) crews have been working alongside the NHS nationally since the start of the pandemic.

"We’re pleased to lend our support to the Isle of Wight to ensure services can continue to operate smoothly during times of increased demand and pressure.”

The first crew arrived on the Island last week to join the IW Ambulance Service and are based at the Newport SJA Headquarters.