The Jersey Emergency Transfer Service plan to use the money to improve the service and train the staff, and particularly to carry out scenario training to prepare the crews for things that can happen mid-flight.
The service transfers patients to the UK for emergency and elective procedures that can’t be done in Jersey, and in the last ten years, the number of flights made by JETS has increased more than threefold to the point where they fly more than 300 times every year.
Manager Ryan McNay said that given the nature of their work, proper training was important.
He said: “When practice and training is provided through simulation, staff confidence and skills improve and they are better prepared to deal with true-life scenarios.
“Often it may be difficult to train due to limited space on the aircraft, so training in a simulated environment which allows access for multiple staff at the same time is a more efficient use of time and resources.”
And the managing director of Jersey General Hospital Helen O’Shea thanked everyone who had voted in an online poll for the money to go to JETS.
She said: “The Lloyds Bank Community Fund will make a big difference to JETS through the introduction of new methods of enhancing the skills and confidence of our clinical teams.
“This will have a positive impact on hundreds of Islanders each year. I am very proud of the team and their work and am delighted this has been recognised by Lloyds and the member of the public who voted.”
