Ambulance Service vehicles and paramedics (FOI)

Request

A

How many vehicles did Jersey's Ambulance Service have in 2011, covering emergency response, patient transport and intermediary services? The total number of vehicles and the number of vehicles on call at any one time

B

What was the number of paramedics in the years inclusive from 2011 to 2023? The total number of paramedics employed between 2011 and 2023 by the Jersey Ambulance Service and the number of paramedics on call at any one time during this period.

Response

To extract some of the information would exceed the cost limit provisions allowed under Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011. Therefore Article 16 has been applied to the request for the number of paramedics on call at any one time during any period, and regarding additional vehicles deployed. This would require checking rosters and CAD systems, with corroboration of details on a day-to-day basis over an 11-year period which would exceed the provisions. 

From 2011 to 2023 the States of Jersey Ambulance Fleet consists of:

• 7 Frontline Emergency Ambulances
• 3 Emergency/Officer Response Cars
• 1 Intermediary Ambulance (Emergency vehicle)
• 10 Patient Transport Minibuses
• 2 Major Incident equipment carriers

The following figures are for the planned number of vehicles. Additional vehicles are deployed when additional staff are available, however this information would exceed the cost limit provisions allowed under Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

2011

• 3 Emergency Ambulances 07:00 – 22:00
• 2 Emergency Ambulances 22:00 – 07:00
• 1 Senior Duty Officer 
• Minibus numbers vary dependant on workload but are usually 8 per day.

2014

• 3 Emergency Ambulances 07:00 – 22:00
• 2 Emergency Ambulances 22:00 – 07:00
• 1 Senior Duty Officer 
• Minibus numbers vary dependant on workload but are usually 8 per day.
• 1 intermediary Ambulance 09:00 – 17:00 Mon-Fri

2019

• 3 Emergency Ambulances 07:00 – 19:00
• 2 Emergency Ambulances 19:00 – 07:00
• 1 Senior Duty Officer on call
• Minibus numbers vary dependant on workload but are usually 8 per day.
• 1 intermediary Ambulance 07:00 – 23:00 
• 1 Duty Officer in Response Car 07:00 – 03:00

During the period 2020 -2022 a variety of additional resources were used throughout Covid which in 2020 included the employment of temporary additional staff to aid response.

2022

• 3 Emergency Ambulances 07:00 – 22:00
• 2 Emergency Ambulances 22:00 – 07:00
• 1 Senior Duty Officer 
• Minibus numbers vary dependant on workload but are usually 8 per day.
• 1 intermediary Ambulance 07:00 – 23:00 (7 days per week)
• 1 Officer Response Leading Ambulance Paramedic
• Trial of a 4th Emergency Ambulance 10:00 – 22:00 (from August 2022)
• Re-introduction of the volunteer Community First Responder (CFR) scheme (responding to a range of Cat1 calls)

Between 2011 and 2023, there have been 55 Employees in a paramedic role.

Article applied

Article 16 - A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. 

(2) Despite paragraph (1), a scheduled public authority may still supply the information requested on payment to it of a fee determined by the authority in the manner prescribed by Regulations for the purposes of this Article.

(3) Regulations may provide that, in such circumstances as the Regulations prescribe, if two or more requests for information are made to a scheduled public authority –

(a) by one person; or

(b) by different persons who appear to the scheduled public authority to be acting in concert or in pursuance of a campaign, the estimated cost of complying with any of the requests is to be taken to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them.