Blood Bikes

Anyone on here do the blood bikes?

I have volunteered but curious what the induction process is like and how long the process is.

They only interview you in daylight and part of that process is an examination of your teeth and checking your reflection in a mirror.

more seriously - well done.

I had a chat with them, it's something I want to do when things settle down in my life a bit more. If you have an advanced riding qualification then you can just join up. Otherwise they want to assess your riding. That's the local one anyway

I had a chat with them, it's something I want to do when things settle down in my life a bit more. If you have an advanced riding qualification then you can just join up. Otherwise they want to assess your riding. That's the local one anyway

The Bristol one insists on advanced riding but also says an induction. I assumed they were all similar!

They only interview you in daylight and part of that process is an examination of your teeth and checking your reflection in a mirror.

more seriously - well done.

Hmm ... laugh or berate? Decisions, decisions!

I looked into joining up a few years ago, and went along to the induction day. It seems to me that they were happy to take anyone who was interested in helping, and were particularly pleased if you had an advanced riding qualification. The induction mainly focussed on procedures and paperwork - understandable given the importance of delivering the right product to the right place in the right condition.

I looked into joining up a few years ago, and went along to the induction day. It seems to me that they were happy to take anyone who was interested in helping, and were particularly pleased if you had an advanced riding qualification. The induction mainly focussed on procedures and paperwork - understandable given the importance of delivering the right product to the right place in the right condition.

Thanks, Bonio. I passed IAM today which is why I can now apply. But, because I am pathetically impatient I couldn't wait the few days for them to contact me and wondered what it was all about.

Paperwork knowledge sounds logical. Asyou say, you want to deliver the correct product to the correct place.

Congrats on the IAM.

Did five years for SERV surrey and south London .

Varies from group to group but induction may be a case of getting a reasonable number together to undertake it.

Remember the people you are contacting are volunteers as well and may have a day/night job .

.

When out riding ... ride to make your destination safely regardless of the load requirement .

Your not helping if you don't deliver and end up needing the product yourself.

You may have to undertake gmp training that is basic knowledge of what your carrying and NHS protocols

You will learn places as you go on but you may do route training to the more popular destinations .

Did five years for SERV surrey and south London .

Varies from group to group but induction may be a case of getting a reasonable number together to undertake it.

Remember the people you are contacting are volunteers as well and may have a day/night job .

.

When out riding ... ride to make your destination safely regardless of the load requirement .

Your not helping if you don't deliver and end up needing the product yourself.

Great advice ... thanks, Tim

Congrats on the IAM.

Thanks mate.

You may have to undertake...

Brilliant. That can of worms opened once more...

GMP training course, route training to show you where the hospitals are, where to park, where to take the blood, and an advanced qualification and assessment ride with them is the norm.

It tends to suit retired people more as they can be ready to roll at 6pm having had dinner and they can sleep in if they are out riding until 2am, plus they have time to get the bikes swapped around during the day. That's the only reason I'm not doing it myself and I don't really want to do weekends as I still have a young family.

What is the Blood Bikes?

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What is the Blood Bikes?

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Bikers that transport blood and other items between hospitals etc.

See here

http://www.bloodbikes.org.uk/

What is the Blood Bikes?

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Let me help: http://bfy.tw/BWRu

Yes I do for Severn Freewheelers the group just North of you, see one of our bikes featured in the first two photos posted for the 2017 UK Challenge 100.

As others have said, the induction process varies from group to group and therefore I can't give you any detail about the Bristol lot.

Just as an example we require all riders to be 30 years old (well the insurers do) have an advanced riding qualification passed a maximum of 3 years before, IAM, Rospa Silver or a police qualification. This also has to be retaken every 3 years.

In addition all riders have an annual check ride taken on one of the marked up bikes.

When riding you wear the charity high viz over your bike gear, and must wear a white crash helemt. Flip fronts are favourite so you don't have to take it off when going into the hospitals.

Although a fair number of our members are retired I'm one who isn't and I have been doing it for over 6 years now.

Another thing, often overlooked, is that you have to be OK with long rides at night, whilst raining and cold. For at least half the year the only time you will see daylight on the bloodbike is at weekends.

Yes I do for Severn Freewheelers the group just North of you, see one of our bikes featured in the first two photos posted for the 2017 UK Challenge 100.

As others have said, the induction process varies from group to group and therefore I can't give you any detail about the Bristol lot.

Just as an example we require all riders to be 30 years old (well the insurers do) have an advanced riding qualification passed a maximum of 3 years before, IAM, Rospa Silver or a police qualification. This also has to be retaken every 3 years.

In addition all riders have an annual check ride taken on one of the marked up bikes.

When riding you wear the charity high viz over your bike gear, and must wear a white crash helemt. Flip fronts are favourite so you don't have to take it off when going into the hospitals.

Although a fair number of our members are retired I'm one who isn't and I have been doing it for over 6 years now.

Another thing, often overlooked, is that you have to be OK with long rides at night, whilst raining and cold. For at least half the year the only time you will see daylight on the bloodbike is at weekends.

Thanks Stocky ... pretty much what I have found out about Bristol Freewheelers! Cheers.

Ok, I'm interested, but have some questions. Is it like an on call thing - or am i liable to be working from 7pm to 7am? how the hell does anyone working full time fit those sort of requirements in with their day job?

Ok, I'm interested, but have some questions. Is it like an on call thing - or am i liable to be working from 7pm to 7am? how the hell does anyone working full time fit those sort of requirements in with their day job?

I had a chat with the blood bike guys at the NEC bike show last year. I was told they like you to commit to two days a month but are flexible as to what days etc. It is on call so sometimes you do not do anything, but need to be available if you are needed. I was told it was mainly out of hours (ie evenings, weekends etc) when the other usual transport options are less able to do it. This is what the guy told me, it may vary perhaps a little group to group.

I too was interested, I love riding and to help someone while doing so is even better. But for me with work and personal life, at present at least, I could not give them the commitment they need/deserve. Those that can achieve it around a day job etc have my respect.

As with my previous answer I can only reply for our group.

We split the week into 2 shifts with the handover times being sometime before 19:00 on Wednesday and Saturday at 19:00.

During the week the vast majority of the work is 19:00-23:00 so on a lot of duty nights you can still get 7 hours sleep. Occasionally you will get an 03:00 or so job and then you will be a bit jaded the following day, but it is always the rider's right to turn a job down if he/she thinks they won't be safe, in exactly the same way as if the weather is unsuitable in the middle of winter. The coordinator could be 40 miles away and have completely different weather.

How often you commit to our rota is up to the individual but a lot of folks settle down to one duty, half a week, about once a month.

Why is such a vital service not properly funded and reliant on the good people donating time and money? Same for air ambulances - why are these vital healthcare services not government funded??

I can't speak for air ambulances, but this is how my local blood bikes group described their position to me: transporting blood is funded by the NHS authorities in our area. The NHS run their own in-house transportation service for something like 18 hours a day. Out of these hours, they have an arrangement with a local taxi company who will do the transportation and handle the paperwork.

Why is such a vital service not properly funded and reliant on the good people donating time and money? Same for air ambulances - why are these vital healthcare services not government funded??

When I gave blood the two laptops they had to use came out of the ark, and neither had a functioning battery.

Kettering General now requires staff to provide their own biros/highlighters. The management team is set to debate whether to ban providing photocopy and printer paper at their next meeting.

The underfunding of the public services is criminal.