Three groups saving lives with motorcycles

It’s funny how many people are keen to tell you how dangerous it is when they find out you ride motorcycles. But they never seem to mention how many lives are being saved by a number of organisations who have all found that motorcycles are the best form of transport to deliver health care and medical supplies – whether it’s in the UK, Africa or Israel.

So the next time someone goes on about how reckless, dangerous and anti-social motorcyclists are, you can either share some of the following with them, or tell them the sod off – the choice is yours…

 

Riders for Health:

Riders for Health is one of the most well-known motorcycling charities, particularly as they run events tied into the motorcycling calendar, such as the Day of Champions before the British Grand Prix. The idea of motorcycle journalist Barry Coleman and professional racer Andrea Coleman, it now operates in seven areas of sub-Saharan Africa managing and maintaining vehicles to deliver health care and supplies.

 

Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes:

This is an umbrella group covering the UK’s volunteer riders who provide a rapid response medical transport service, carrying items including blood, vacccines, and X-Rays to hospitals out of hours and free of charge to the NHS. Current NABB groups cover more than 85% of the UK population and parts of Ireland.

Current members include the Freewheelers, Whiteknights, NorthWest Bloodbikes, and SERV. The concept of blood bikes starts with volunteers back in Stevenage in 1969, and has saved not only NHS money, but also lives. By offering out of hours services, the blood bikes can respond promptly at times when taxis etc would be difficult and expensive to arrange.

 

United Hatzalah:

Founded by a young EMT on an ambulance in Jerusalem, United Hatzalah founder Eli Beer organised a group of trained volunteers to provide help and assistance as the first on scene. These volunteers not only treated 207,000 people in Israel last year, with an average response time of 3 minutes, but also combine both Jewish and Muslim volunteers into one group focused on saving lives. And their main tools are GPS-enabled mobile phones and Ambulance Bikes (OK, technically scooters). And the idea is now spreading to other countries.

 

These were just the first three organisations which sprang to mind – add any others you know in the comments.