The vital service still hitting the road in the face of 114mph Storm Eowyn
Motorcyclists who carry out life-saving work transferring critical material for the NHS are preparing to clock up hundreds of miles in the dark as Storm Éowyn gusts across the UK.
Eleven emergency volunteer riders with North West Blood Bikes Lancs and Lakes are due to work an overnight shift which will mean swapping bikes for cars to stay safe on the road.
A controller is monitoring weather conditions with an amber warning in place for the region and a peak wind gust of 114mph recorded in the Republic of Ireland early this morning.
Follow our live blog for the latest updates on Storm Eowyn
Bill Casey, the charity’s secretary and one of the riders, said the ‘show will go on’ because the members know the difference the free, out-of-hours service makes to the NHS.
The advanced motorcyclist told Metro that one of the rewards from hitting the dark roads during unsocial hours is the thankyou he gets when he delivers vital material.
‘The show will go on through the bad weather if it possibly, safely can,’ he said. ‘It’s highly likely that we will be using our own cars, and our two fleet cars, rather than motorcycles, as we want to be part of the solution for our dear NHS, not part of their problem in the bad weather.
‘We will be assessing weather reports throughout the day and we will have a duty manager who will make the decision whether some or any of the services need to be stopped. The people on the shift will be looking for instructions on whether to swap bikes with cars but it looks like a certainty due to the severity of the weather.
‘We will keep going, unless something really extreme happens where we have to stop cars as well. That’s only happened once in our history, to my memory, so we will be continuing to do what we’ve always done which is to support the NHS through the worst.’
The biggest Blood Bike service in the UK operates 14 motorcycles and two Kia Ceed fleet cars to transfer urgent and emergency material including blood, breast milk, tissue samples, medication and IT equipment.
Around 300 available riders also use their own vehicles to support the NHS, a contribution which has led to more than 150,000 deliveries since the charity was set up in May 2012.
On a busy night, a rider can clock up a couple of hundred of miles and one fleet car is doing 2,000 miles a month, jobs which would otherwise incur charges from private taxis or couriers.
Bill, 71, a retired chemical engineer from Ormskirk, said: ‘You can be carrying blood or tissue samples for 24-hour analysis and occasionally we have heard back from people that it gives them a bit of reassurance and encouragement that there’s a dedicated person in a high-vis jacket with the sample in a pannier, rather than the sample being sent in a private taxi.
‘People sometimes thank us in person and are generous in supporting us, because all of our work is funded by donations.
‘The public see us heroes out on the road in all weathers and that’s why they continue to support us financially, which we’re grateful for.’
The charity provides out-of-hours cover, so tonight’s shift will clock on at 7pm and finish at 2am on Saturday, saving the NHS money and providing experienced, dedicated couriers.
Bill, who is due to work on the road on Monday, admitted that he does have a sense of trepidation before heading out in bad weather to do the job he signed up to eight years ago.
He said: ‘The first thing that goes through your mind is “why did I sign up for this?” Then you get your helmet and gloves on and engine switched on and you start responding to the road conditions and roads users like on any other ride.
‘Sometimes you do think of the person, and it might be a young child, or it might be blood stocks for someone in surgery and it’s going to be important.
‘Personally, my focus is more on the grateful smile at the pathology lab or the receiving hospital when they say “thank you very much, we can take care of it now.”
‘We are experienced riders and have our self-discipline about keeping safe and aiming to deliver what we are aiming to deliver.
‘We like to think we are top-class riders riding within our limits and the limits of the conditions to arrive and get home safely.
‘That does seem to be generally the case based on the statistics.’
The volunteers, including people who are retired or putting in the hours around a day job, will cover between 7am and 7pm at the weekend.
Many have personal reasons for giving back to the NHS.
They will be on call amid forecast conditions which have led the AA to urge drivers travelling in red weather warning areas to consider if a journey is necessary and to postpone it if not.
For the latest on Storm Éowyn follow our live blog
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