Volunteer Role: Rider / Driver
Who are they?
The duty riders / drivers are the front line of blood biking. They are our interface to hospital staff and Air Ambulance teams, our public image, deliver our service and alongside our fund raisers and sponsors are key to the success of the group.
What do they do?
Riders / drivers are ‘on call’ for a shift.
A rider / driver on a night shift needs to be ready for a call from 7pm which usually means arriving to pick up vehicle and run thorugh all the pre-shift checks at around 6.30pm.
Monday to Thursday shifts we aim to have the rider / driver back home by 7am and so we take the last regular calls from the hospitals around 5am. This allows time to complet the ‘run’, get the vehicle back and then home. The night time shift is a “sleeping shift’ which means you will be contacted by the duty controller should a collection / delivery be needed.
Friday night and Saturday night shifts end a little later as we give the hospital 24 hour cover at weekends and bank holidays.
We need to be able to take calls from the hospital between the usual approximate 5am close down and the start of the 7am day time rider shift. So, the rider / driver needs to be prepared to be back home a little later than 7am should a call come in between 5am and 6.30am. A call from around 6.30am we’ll pass to the day time shift.
Who can be a rider for our group?
Our riders will usually be 25 years old and above and must have 2 years recent experience in handling and riding motorcycles of a similar size and weight to our fleet bikes. We expect our riders to be active motorcyclists and it is usual that our riders will own and ride their own motorcycle.
We follow the guidelines of the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes (NABB) and require all our riders to have completed an advanced rider assessment every 3 years. The most common advanced courses/assessments accepted are (a) Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists – IAM (b) ROSPA (c) Police rider qualification (d) Enhanced Rider Scheme A grade pass.
Some riders will have obtained their IAM or ROSPA qualification many years ago and in these cases we expect them to take a refresher assessment. In most cases the Enhanced Rider Schemeassessment is the solution.
The Enhanced Rider Scheme is an excellent way to learn basics and to be assessed for competence. However for deeper learning and gaining wider experience, courses like IAM and ROSPA are an excellent way to build a greater knowledge and experience for riding at an advanced level.
If you have not done any advanced rider qualification we have group members who have been involved in all the schemes above and they can share with you their experiences so you can decide which training is the one that most suits you.
Who can be a driver for our group?
To become a driver, you will have to hold a valid UK car driving license. Experience of driving a panelled van would be beneficial, but not essential.
If you are interested please contact the supporters secretary for a chat and they will get an application form to you. Email is supporters@lrbloodbikes.org.uk
