Ilfracombe

Ilfracombe is DART’s first project outside our home base of Chulmleigh.
Ilfracombe has had a group of volunteers for sometime now and currently consists of 3 people and we are trying to develop the group further to include more people and thus extend our hours of coverage on call.
As a group we were available to respond for almost 2000 hours and were asked to attend some 487 calls for the year ending December 2018.  Currently, the CFRs use and pay for their own vehicles to attend all incidents.  Because of our location, it is not unknown for an ambulance crew to take up to 20 minutes to arrive for category one calls and a lot longer for category 2 and 3 calls.   We are regularly asked to attend calls outside our area of operation expected by SWAST, that is a travel time of around 8 minutes.  Thus we have been asked and attended calls regularly in Combe Martin, Mortehoe, Woolacombe, West Down, Braunton and other locations some distance from Ilfracombe.
There is therefore a real need for a vehicle that is capable of safely carrying all of our equipment, which includes a large rucksack and very soon a bag containing the “Raizer” Chair and its battery charger. 
We are often required to get across farm tracks and fields, additionally, Ilfracombe and the surrounding areas are regularly beset by poor weather conditions, be it flooding or snow. These conditions result in our not being able to respond to calls.  We are therefore looking to raise enough funds to provide a four wheel drive  vehicle able to work in poor weather and over rough ground.
Our aim in Ilfracombe is to purchase a 4 x 4 Long Wheel Base Toyota Landcruiser in 2020.  Like DART’s  Chulmleigh  vehicle and most Mountain Rescue vehicles the Landcruiser will be large enough to carry all the equipment  that Ilfracombe’s  first responders carry. Being a 4 x 4 is important as in our rural area and with ever more unpredictable weather there is a need to always “get through”. Ilfracombe’s Community First Responders currently average nearly 2 calls per day. It is hoped that with the improved profile the vehicle will provide, that additional responders will be recruited and even more people can be helped in their hour of need.