Emergency responses to Holy Island boosted by land, sea and air

North East Ambulance Service, HM Coastguard and Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service have been developing their partnership with a new plan to work together to offer support during emergencies on the tidal island.

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.”

The new memorandum of understanding 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.

When responding to an incident on the island, the ambulance or fire service will contact HM Coastguard (HMCG) as the tasking authority for search and rescue incidents at the coast.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Humber will liaise with teams to agree the best way to access the island, whether by helicopter or lifeboat, and coordinate the transport of the relevant crew to the emergency.

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.”

Joe Haustead, head of community risk and response for Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service said "Over the coming weeks we will be working with NEAS and HM Coastguard to carry out a series of exercises on the island. This work further demonstrates our commitment to working closely together."

North East Ambulance Service has four community first responders (CFRs) who serve the island.