©InfoThe British Red Cross is one of 15 national Red Cross societies that is benefiting from a three-year global initiative between Land Rover and the IFRC entitled ‘Reaching Vulnerable People Around the World’.
This winter, Land Rover’s vehicles will once again be helping the Red Cross over the festive period. As part of the initiative, Land Rover supports the British Red Cross during adverse weather, providing extra vehicles to help cope with the heightened demand for services.
Life-saving support
Land Rover has supplied 30 automated external defibrillators to the British Red Cross to enhance the 30 emergency response vehicles it donated to the organisation in 2008.
Recent evidence shows that if a defibrillator is used within two to three minutes of cardiac arrest, up to 70 per cent of patients return to a normal heart rhythm and survive. The defibrillators will significantly increase the ability of the British Red Cross to treat people in need of critical care in hard-to-reach areas.
Land Rover is also helping the Red Cross to be even better prepared to support vulnerable people during bad weather by providing 4x4 training. The rough terrain driver training took place between August and November at Land Rover’s experience centre at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire.
First on the scene
Land Rover has also donated a fleet of bicycles to create 15 new cycle response units, which will enable volunteers to swiftly navigate urban and crowded areas to reach people in an emergency. Each of the 30 custom-built bikes, which can easily fit onto the back of Red Cross Land Rovers, comes fitted with a defibrillator, advanced first aid kit and resuscitation equipment. Since the launch of the new service in August, the cycle response units have already been operational at major UK events such as the Great North Run and Essex Country Show. One unit even attended an on-site emergency at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, within 24 hours of being introduced.
Responding to emergencies
Watch a video about the vital role Land Rover plays in our emergency response work.