Dramatic rise in emergency response provision in the North West
published on 2 Jul 2020
The Salvation Army’s North West emergency response service has seen a dramatic rise in call outs since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Normally assisting the emergency services with an average of 100 call outs a year, the charitable organisation’s emergency response team saw 20 requests in just one month across the North West following the nation-wide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Equating to a fifth of an average year, the increase in call outs in the month of April supported a range of emergency services with practical and emotional support, including fire and rescue services, following several workers contracting Covid-19 resulting in self-isolation.
The emergency response service in the Central North division of The Salvation Army covers three counties in the North West; Cheshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester with four-vehicles working across the area that provide refreshments for crews when they are dealing with urgent situations.
Major Nigel Tansley, Emergency Services Co-ordinator for the Salvation Army Central North Division, said: “All organisations and businesses are under immense strain as the coronavirus pandemic continues and we see our support for emergency personnel and local communities as a vital part of our work.
“We provide food and refreshments to sometimes more than 100 professionals from the fire brigade, police, environment agency and many others during what are really terrible conditions, so they can focus on the job at hand.”
Supporting in many emergency, The Salvation Army often spends 10 hours at an emergency site.
With a team of 75 volunteers on the emergency response team, The Salvation Army has seen the coronavirus pandemic increase pressure on the service due to lockdown health measures, with many volunteers aged over 70 needing to self-isolate.
Major Tansley added: “We offer practical and emotional support to the emergency services in their time of need, serving people of the local community as we say, ‘heart to God, hand to man’.”
