We’re delighted to announce that Lions District 105SE (South East Lions) has raised an incredible £53k to purchase a new Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) for our lifesaving charity.
Representatives from the Lions visited the ours airbase at Redhill, Surrey on December 8 to officially hand over the new vehicle, which will be used to provide world-leading pre-hospital emergency medical care by road when circumstances such as bad weather prevent the charity’s helicopters from taking to the air.
The Lions’ funding paid for the car, a Volvo XC90, as well as its conversion to an emergency services vehicle. It is now fitted with a blue light bar on the roof, additional blue lights, sirens and ‘Battenberg’ markings in KSS colours, including reflective areas which make the car visible, especially at night.
This is the fourth RRV to be funded by the Lions since they began fundraising for us in 2012. In that period they have raised over £530k for KSS as well as providing volunteers to help with numerous events. The Lions played a key role in helping us introduce night flying by raising money to buy the night vision goggles which in 2013 enabled KSS to become the first air ambulance charity in the UK to fly around the clock 365 days a year.
Subsequently they have paid for many essential items, including new specialist kit bags to transport drugs and equipment, and specialist items such as our portable ultrasound machines as well as four RRVs.
Fundraising by the Lions has involved a wide range of events and activities across the region, including Easter egg hunts, classic car shows, an annual bluebell walk and the Hastings Half Marathon.
Commenting at the handover, Chandra Kumar (District Governor) of Lions District 105SE said: “We are proud to support KSS because of the invaluable role the charity plays in saving lives across our region. We look forward to working with KSS in the future and helping them to save more lives.”
Our Chief Executive David Welch, who was present for the handover, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Lions District 105 SE for this generous donation and all of their support over the last 13 years. Although we are strongly associated with helicopters, our RRVs are vital to our 24/7 service and allow us to deliver hospital level care to our patients no matter where they are or what the weather conditions are like.
“Like our helicopters they allow our crews to reach patients quickly to deliver vital life-saving interventions. It is therefore critical for us that we have a reliable and safe fleet of specially equipped cars such as this one.”
Unlike the KSS helicopters, our Rapid Response Vehicles cannot carry patients. However, they enable our specialist doctors and paramedics to reach patients at high speed and provide critical pre-hospital care before transporting them to hospital in a land ambulance or a helicopter.
For more information on how our vehicles are used, look at `Meet our fleet‘.
