Suffolk Accident Rescue Service

Suffolk Accident Rescue Service
Abbreviation SARS
Motto We need your help, we hope you never need ours
Formation 1 May 1972
Legal status Registered Charity No. 263238
Headquarters Ipswich
Region served
Suffolk and adjoining areas
Website www.sars999.org.uk

The Suffolk Accident Rescue Service (SARS) is a registered charity[1] which assists the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust in providing medical care at the scene of emergencies in Suffolk and surrounding counties. The organisation relies on volunteer medical professionals and Allied Health Professionals to provide this service on an entirely voluntary basis. The headquarters are in Ipswich. It is an affiliated member of the British Association for Immediate Care.

Purpose of the organisation

SARS was established in 1972 as a group of doctors willing to give up their spare time to assist at the scene of trauma and medical emergencies. In 2011, SARS opened its membership to paramedics and other health professionals.

The service continues to train and equip participating members. In 2009 SARS responded to 1142 emergencies, and by 2014 the charity had answered over 16,000 calls - an average of more than 1 call each day over the previous 42 years. All SARS members are volunteers who receive no payment or expenses for responding to emergency calls and the work is undertaken without any charge to the patient, ambulance service or UK tax-payer.

References

  1. "Suffolk Accident Rescue Service Entry". UK Charity Commission. Retrieved 2009-02-21.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 06, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.