Ambulance service responds to 'rare' callouts on Lihou Island

Guernsey's Ambulance Service has responded to two 'extremely rare' callouts on Lihou island in two days.

The calls were separate incidents and happened on Thursday 11 August and Friday 12 August.

St John Ambulance Service says: "Calls to Lihou Island are extremely rare, so it is very unusual to have two calls in such a short space of time."

The first call was received on Thursday afternoon, when the causeway was open.

A double crewed ambulance, an ambulance incident officer and the Land Rover ambulance were sent to the Lihou headland carpark. From there the Land Rover took the ambulance crew across the causeway.

The patient, who was with their family and the warden of Lihou House, was assessed before being taken back across the causeway and to the waiting road ambulance.

They were taken to Princess Elizabeth Hospital (PEH) for treatment.

The second call was received late on Friday night - a paramedic ambulance crew and an ambulance incident officer were sent to the patient. Once again the causeway was open and the Land Rover ambulance and the paramedic crew crossed.

The patient was then taken to the Emergency Department at PEH for further treatment.

Paramedic Officer Steve Torode said: “Both operations were carried out successfully thanks to all of those involved. Evacuating any patient from Lihou island can be a challenge and needs careful planning and preparation. The incident on Friday had the added challenge of being during the night.

"Both operations involved good planning, coordination, communication and teamwork. We worked closely with the Lihou warden who has a great deal of local knowledge of the island, tides and causeway.

"The Land Rover ambulance gives us the ability to respond to incidents that are off-road or over difficult terrain.” Steve Sarre, warden of Lihou House said: “I am very pleased that both of the incidents over the last couple of days were successful, it really shows how our services are ready to react to any situation and conditions.

"Although Lihou is not the most straightforward of place to get a patent from, we have plans in place and we have great communication with the services, which makes it possible to carry out.”