SAVE A BIKER''S LIFE
31 March 2006 - Bikesure

St. John Ambulance and Bikesure team up to promote the Emergency Aid for Motorcyclists course.

The biker lying in the middle of the road is unconscious and having trouble breathing... Should you take the helmet off?

Bikesure is helping St. John Ambulance to promote a new course, Emergency Aid For Motorcyclists, designed to help save bikers'' lives. St. John Ambulance is the UK''s leading First Aid charity and Bikesure is the motorcycle insurance specialist based in Kings Lynn, Norfolk.

UK bikers have a poor safety record compared to other road users. Their KSI* (killed or serious injury) rate per million vehicle kilometres is 16 times that of car drivers and passengers. (In 2004** 5,489 bikers and 367 pillion passengers were killed or seriously injured.)

This is the first course the first aid charity has run that specifically covers motorcycle accidents. Bikesure has agreed to underwrite the costs of the national campaign to publicise the course.

St. John Ambulance devised the course to help anyone arriving first at the scene of a motorbike accident. What steps should a biker take? What should they look out for? One of the most critical questions is, of course, should the helmet be removed? Just as important, given all the different types of helmet and fastenings, how do you remove the helmet? The course covers a variety of other issues, including the many types of injury that might be encountered.

Bikesure has paid for the design, printing and distribution of a promotional leaflet for the course, which offers basic advice on first aid at a motorbike accident as well as giving details of the full course. The leaflet is available free of charge from your local St. John Ambulance headquarters. The publicity campaign also includes PR and advertising, as well as running courses for biking journalists interested in publicising the initiative.

''We were alerted to the course through Laura Pettifer, a local biker who lost her partner Tony Petch in 2003 in a tragic biking accident'', says Robert Balls of Bikesure. ''She was arranging for St. John Ambulance to run the new course in King''s Lynn, and we offered to pay the cost of holding that particular session. Following discussions with the first aid charity we decided we''d like to help more. Covering the cost of the campaign to publicise the course on a national basis seemed the best way.''

''We are delighted that Bikesure is working with us to promote the importance of motorcycle safety,'' says Richard Evens, St. John Ambulance director of training and marketing and a keen motorcyclist. ''The St. John Ambulance course is aimed specifically at bikers and covers the main points when dealing with either a biker or pillion passenger involved in a biking accident.

And since bikers are sometimes the first on the scene of an accident, it will give them an idea of how to treat other casualties. St. John Ambulance is the country''s leading first aid training provider and this specially designed course should help reduce the deaths and serious injuries on the roads today, incurred by bikers.''

Robert Balls says that Bikesure is honoured to have the opportunity to be involved in the initiative. ''This course will undoubtedly save lives,'' he adds.

The course takes four hours and is being run at venues across the country. The cost differs slightly depending on your local training centre, but will be around £40 per person, payable direct to St. John Ambulance. Discounts are available for groups and trainers will be happy to go to a group''s own venue or area to run a course.

To find out about your nearest course, call your local St. John Ambulance centre on 08700 10 49 50.

Bikesure has a huge range of specialist policies for the motorcycle enthusiast, including schemes for trikes and quads. For details freephone the Bikesure quote line on 0800 089 2000, email the company at bikesure@adrianflux.co.uk or visit www.bikesure.co.uk

www.bikesure.co.uk

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