Cycle responder
Encyclopedia
Paramedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
or first aid
First aid
First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
er that uses a bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
to respond to a medical emergency
Medical emergency
A medical emergency is an injury or illness that is acute and poses an immediate risk to a person's life or long term health. These emergencies may require assistance from another person, who should ideally be suitably qualified to do so, although some of these emergencies can be dealt with by the...
. They are used by professional ambulance services to respond to emergency calls and also by private and voluntary providers of medical cover at events.
Cycle responders are provided in order to provide fast, effective medical assistance to patients in areas in which a traditional road ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
or response car would have a delayed response time, and where responders on foot may not be fast enough, or cannot provide sufficient cover over an area.
This means that they are primarily deployed in areas of high traffic congestion, such as city centres with large cities such as London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
making extensive use of them. They are also used in specialist applications such as inside large shopping precincts and airport terminal
Airport terminal
An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft....
s, and for covering first aid at events.
History
First aid response on bicycle has been used by event first aid organisations since at least the 1990s, to provide rapid response over an event site.Cycle responders for ambulance work were piloted by London Ambulance Service
London Ambulance Service
The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the largest "free at the point of contact" emergency ambulance service in the world. It responds to medical emergencies in Greater London, England, with the ambulances and other response vehicles and over 5,000 staff at its disposal.It is one of 12...
in 2000, as the idea of paramedic Tom Lynch, based at the Waterloo
Waterloo, London
Waterloo is a district of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated east of Charing Cross. The area is part of a business improvement district known as Waterloo Quarter, which includes The Cut and the Old Vic and Young Vic theatres, including some sections in the...
ambulance station. The trial successfully demonstrated that response times to pedestrianised areas were reduced, and with the responder able to deal with a number of illnesses and injuries, the single cycle saved over 250 hours of ambulance availability per month.
Equipment
The equipment carried by cycle responders will vary depending upon role and the level to which the rider is trained. Typically the responder will carry oxygenOxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
and a defibrillator as these are primary basic life support
Basic life support
Basic life support is the level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries until the patient can be given full medical care at a hospital. It can be provided by trained medical personnel, including emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and by...
items for dealing with conditions such as cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
. They may also carry additional airway management
Airway management
In cardiopulmonary resuscitation, anaesthesia, emergency medicine, intensive care medicine and first aid, airway management is the process of ensuring that:# there is an open pathway between a patient’s lungs and the outside world, and...
equipment (such as airways or bag valve mask
Bag valve mask
A bag valve mask is a hand-held device used to provide positive pressure ventilation to a patient who is not breathing or who is breathing inadequately. The device is a normal part of a resuscitation kit for trained professionals, such as ambulance crew...
s) and drugs appropriate to their skill level. They are also likely to carry first aid
First aid
First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
equipment such as bandage
Bandage
A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to the body; they can also be used to restrict a part of the body. During heavy bleeding or following a poisonous bite it is important to slow the flow of blood,...
s and dressings
The equipment can be carried on the bike (in pannier
Pannier
A pannier is a basket, bag, box, or similar container, carried in pairs either slung over the back of a beast of burden, or attached to the sides of a bicycle or motorcycle. The term derives from the Old French, from Classical Latin, word for bread basket....
s), or on the responders body (using a rucksack or modified utility jacket).
Training
Some organisations operating cycle responders offer specific training to staff or volunteers undertaking the role. They may use their own training, or conform to an external standard, such as Bikeability or the International Police Mountain Bike Association (IPMBA).Training may cover areas such as hazard avoidance, observation
Observation
Observation is either an activity of a living being, such as a human, consisting of receiving knowledge of the outside world through the senses, or the recording of data using scientific instruments. The term may also refer to any data collected during this activity...
, how to manoeuvre in low speed areas, traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
, safety
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...
and crowds.