Health Care Equipment Centre

The Health Care Equipment Centre is a two-storey building at Ambulance Headquarters, housing the largest range of equipment for people who are being cared for in the community or who have limited mobility in the Channel Islands.

The Centre supplies equipment to nursing homes and hospitals, as well as to community nurses and to individuals who may want a single item to help in the care of relatives at home.

Some items are available for hire for short periods, whilst a patient recovers from an injury or operation. Other items are for sale, from bathroom aids to electric-powered wheelchairs adjusted for the service user.

Members of the public are free to call in and ask for advice on any problem they or relatives may have.

General Description

Visitors to the Centre will find a large showroom on the ground floor displaying a wide range of aids to assist those who have difficulty with simple tasks at home, such as specially designed cutlery and crockery for people with limited dexterity. A range of crutches, walking aids and wheelchairs is also on display.

In addition to items which help disability, there is also a comprehensive display of first aid kits and supplies. The Centre assembles first aid kits to suit any situation, whether a large office, a passenger-carrying ship or a personal kit for the home. Kits can be supplied to comply with legislation in any country. A service is offered where people can bring a first aid kit to the Centre for checking, so that used or out-of-date items can be replenished.

An upper floor also displays bedroom and bathroom aids, including a hospital bed for hire or sale. There is an electric chair lift for disabled people to reach the upper floor, thereby demonstrating what help a lift can be in such circumstances.

staff

The staff are experienced and trained in the needs of the disabled and can offer advice to patients, relatives or carers on the wide variety of equipment available. They will recommend further advice from professional sources if this is more appropriate.

At the rear of a large ground floor store is a small workshop and maintenance area where returned items are checked, sterilised and serviced. The technician is employed in the Centre specifically for this purpose and can repair damaged equipment on site, thereby reducing expenditure on replacements.

funding

The Centre is operated as a service to the public by Guernsey's Ambulance and Rescue Service. There are no shareholders or dividends requiring profit, so charges are kept as low as possible. Surpluses from the Centre's operations are used to further the work of the Service, including the Centre itself, and to offset expenses in other areas, particularly marine and cliff rescue which do not receive any support from the Island's government and which rely solely on donations for their support.

history

When Guernsey's Ambulance & Rescue Service started in 1936 it obtained a small number of wheelchairs, commodes, crutches, air rings and draw sheets to help patients.

As a service to the people of the island these were offered for hire to members of the public.

As items were added the monies raised from the hire service covered the cost of cleaning or servicing the items, and of replacement when required. Any surplus assisted with the expenses of running the ambulance service.

The idea proved to be popular and over the next few years the stock increased as new purchases were made and donations of equipment and money were received from the public.

During the years of German occupation severe shortages were experienced as the islands were isolated from the UK and later from mainland Europe. The staff of the Ambulance and Rescue Service managed to continue the hire service by maintaining equipment with a considerable degree of skill and ingenuity using the scarce materials available.

After the occupation years the service expanded. It became more popular as people found that disability did not necessarily mean a restriction of activities as appropriate equipment was used. Callers to Ambulance Headquarters who wished to hire items were served by the ambulance staff.

In 1968 a dedicated store for equipment used in the ambulances was built at Ambulance Headquarters. A full-time storekeeper who had responsibility for issuing ambulance stores to staff also served the public who required hire items.

Demand for the service increased as more sick people began to be nursed at home, and nursing homes outside hospital began to develop. A larger store was included in building extensions completed in 1972. This was visited by Princess Anne, who shortly was to pay a return visit as Princess Royal in 1997 and see an even newer building - the present Centre - shortly after its opening.

With the increase in demand, the range and complexity of items became even greater and it became necessary to separate the hire and sales of medical equipment from the general ambulance service stores. In 1981 a dedicated health care centre was opened, and from this time assistants employed solely to help with the Centre.

Since 1985 the Centre has been run by dedicated staff with the expertise to identify patients' needs and advise on the wide range of equipment which is available.

Today's modern Centre was opened in 1995.