Bank holiday first aid

Volunteers in Merseyside spent their bank holiday weekend providing first aid support at the two biggest events in the county last weekend.

With both the Creamfields Festival and and the Mathew Street Festival taking place, dedicated volunteers really had their work cut out.

Creamfields Festival

For the first time in ten years, the Creamfields Festival took place over two days which means party-goers camped out, and first aiders were on hand throughtout the whole of the dance music festival to care for those who needed it.

Volunteers manned three first aid posts and two ambulances were available with two 4x4 units. A 40 bed field hospital was staffed by 40 first aiders, five doctors, eight nurses and several other health care professionals working alongside a command team, control staff and operational support teams.

Approximately 400 people received attention from St John and a number were transferred to hospital via the North West Ambulance Service. Ailments ranged from minor cuts and bruises to more serious injuries including cardiac complaints and spinal injuries.

Simon Galley, Commissioner Operations and Duty Commander at the event said: 'Our members worked tirelessly to provide a quality service which enabled 40,000 festival goers to enjoy themselves safely.

'I am justifiably proud of both the management team and the members who attended.'

Mathew Street Festival

The Mathew Street Festival also took place over the weekend. Six huge stages and over 30 indoor venues littered the vast city centre site with many more attractions included.

This year, the Sunday of the festival clashed with Creamfields meaning that St John Merseyside had a very busy day.

Arran Banks, Duty Commander for the event said: 'There was a clash on the Sunday this year with Creamfields however we really have some amazingly dedicated members who gave up their free time to be on duty here. Without their help we could not have given the excellent service we did to the Liverpool Culture Company team and the masses of members of the public here.'

In all, 150 people received treatment over the two days from the 60 strong St John team. Five first aid posts, four ambulances, two 4x4 units, four doctors and a cycle responder team from Manchester attended to the estimated 350,000 plus people on the streets and around the entire city centre.