New emergency services partnership for Holy Island, Northumberland

Three emergency services in the northeast of England – North East Ambulance Service, HM Coastguard, and Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service – have developed a partnership to offer support to medical emergencies on Holy Island in Northumberland.

The new memorandum of understanding is a tri-partnership agreement which aims to ensure a wider range of response options for accessing the island to reduce the time members of the public will have to wait if they need rescue or medical help.

Chris Chalmers, Locality Manager at North East Ambulance Service, said: “In the event of a medical emergency, we work together with all of our partners to give the quickest, safest response to patients, either by boat, road, or air. The geography of the island means having clear working arrangements in place with our partners is vital so we can reach those people who need us, to treat or transport them to hospital.”

Holy Island is linked to the mainland by a causeway which is cut off twice a day during high tide times. For the hours when the tide won’t allow access via the causeway, getting to the island is only accessible by sea and air.

Martin Lowe, HM Coastguard Area Commander for Holy Island, added: “It has always been vital that we work well with our partner emergency services to keep people safe on the island as the geography offers a particular challenge – twice a day the island is cut off by road and we need alternative ways of evacuating people in emergency situations.

“This new tri-partnership agreement can only add to the already strong partnerships we have and will aid in the response to incidents with streamlined communication channels and formalised procedures.”