MARINE AMBULANCE SERVICE

Flying Christine III is a 45-foot ambulance launch, launched in 1994, the only craft in the world built to a unique design specifically for the high speed provision of medical and life-saving aid at sea.

Operated by Guernsey's Ambulance and Resuce Service, she is on call 24 hours a day, from a mooring in St. Peter Port harbour, Guernsey.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Flying Christine III is the marine equivalent of an accident and emergency ambulance. She carries additional rescue equipment which enables her to deal with accidents at sea or on ships, as well as responding to incidents on neighbouring islands.

Crewed by professional ambulance staff, this enables life-saving and stabilising treatment to commence immediately a patient is on board and to be continued as the launch speeds towards land.

Operated by the St. John Ambulance and Rescue Service, which relies heavily on voluntary contributions and public support to continue its services, the vessel was launched at the end of 1994 and performed over 200 missions in its first 3 years service.

Although her rôle is primarily answering medical emergencies or accidents on board ships or neighbouring islands, Flying Christine III is also available to assist the local lifeboat or other authorities in rescues or searches at sea.

The launch regularly exercises with the Royal Navy or RAF helicopters and local rescue authorities.

CREW
The crew of Flying Christine III are qualified professional ambulance staff whose normal rôle is full-time professional emergency ambulance work.

This means that casualties are treated on board by crew members who have the training and experience to diagnose and treat injuries or accidents to professional ambulance service standards.

Volunteers from the local boating fraternity make up a panel of honorary cox'ns and engineers to assist the service whenever necessary, and can be called from their homes or their jobs at any time to respond to emergency calls.

FUNDING
The marine ambulance launch is funded from public donations. The St. John Ambulance & Rescue Service receives an annual grant from the States of Guernsey to assist with the professional road ambulance service but the ambulance launch, like the inshore rescue boats and other rescue activities of the service, is funded by public generosity.

Flying Christine III was built entirely from funds donated or bequeathed to the Service. A charge is sometimes made where insurance companies are covering patient's medical costs, or where set donations have been agreed from neighbouring islands, but these do not pay the costs of maintaining or running the ambulance launch, and the service depends on voluntary donations and public generosity to continue its work.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Flying Christine III is powered by twin Caterpillar V8 turbo-charged diesel engines, each developing 435 horsepower @2800 rpm, giving a maximum speed of about 22 knots and is served by a 13-feet fibreglass dory moored permanently in St. Peter Port Harbour.

The fibreglass hull is the well-proven Nelson 45 hull, designed to cut through the waves rather than ride on the surface of the sea, and with the wheelhouse positioned well forward, and the engine room to the stern, the stretcher cabin is situated amidships where patients have a smooth ride in the area least affected by the motion of the sea.

She has a stretcher cabin larger than those found in road ambulances, giving ambulance practitioners or medical staff plenty of room to examine and treat patients with the comprehensive array of medical equipment carried.

This includes a defibrillator, resucitators, pulse oximeter, oxygen and a wide range of first aid materials sufficient to treat a number of casualties. In addition, medical supplies are on board for use by paramedics or doctors, such as laryngoscopes, suture packs and drip sets.

Stretchers are interchangeable with those used in road ambulances, so patients with severe injuries need not be moved from the time they board the Flying Christine III until they reach hospital.

The stern deck has steps to water level to enable patients to be recovered from the water in a stretcher, and can be used for transfer to helicopter if necessary.

Radio equipment includes transceivers on two Ambulance and Rescue Service frequencies and marine frequencies with DF and there is also a Furuno radar, depth sounder, auto-pilot and navigator.

A full complement of marine equipment, together with charts and British and French ensigns is carried. Lifejackets for more than 14 people are stored on board and a self-inflating life raft is included in addition to a 9-foot inflatable dinghy which can be used for close inshore work from the mother ship.