#AAW2023 – Day 5 – DocBike Northamptonshire & The Air Ambulance Service

On day 5 of #AirAmbulanceWeek where we’re saying a huge thank-you to the air ambulance services across the UK, we’re visiting DocBike Northamptonshire and The Air Ambulance Service

The Northamptonshire branch of DocBike started in 2019, with Dr Mark  Folman joining in 2020. Mark has been an air ambulance doctor and has been flying with the Air Ambulance Service since 2012.

Mark realised that he needed to improve his riding skills, having attended one too many serious motorcycle crashes, so did a BikeSafe course in 2015, followed soon after by further training with the IAM.

He joined up with the Northants docbike team in 2020 to further his training, and Andy Hunt (police driver trainer and docbike volunteer) took him through his standard police motorcycle training so that Mark could respond to incidents on the DocBike. The Northamptonshire Police Safer Roads team kindly provided a fully marked bike, all Mark’s PPE as well as a full critical care monitor to allow him to treat patients by the roadside.

Because Mark flies on The Air Ambulance Service and provides injury prevention engagement through DocBike-Northants as well as responding to incidents on the motorcycle, he has a very unique understanding of why motorcyclists crash (even when it’s not their fault) and what can be done to avoid motorcycle collisions in the first place. The DocBike guide to avoiding bike crashes is a great place to start!

The Air Ambulance Service carries critical care doctors, paramedics/practitioners and a whole host of life-saving critical care equipment. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been in a bike crash or are critically ill from a medical illness – The Air Ambulance Service and their team are the people you need when your life is in the balance. None of this comes cheaply so it’s vital that the community is able to support all air ambulances across the UK wherever they can.

DocBike is very keen to associate a branch of the charity with every air ambulance service across the UK. With the support of Air Ambulances UK, we’re achieving this! Where our branches have been established for some time, we’re now seeing a 50% reduction in motorcycle-related fatalities and deaths, so what we’re doing is working – but we need to be collaborative in our approaches to achieve this.

Please share your support for all of the Air Ambulances across the UK during #AirAmbulanceWeek and in particular, check out AirAmbulancesUK and the charities that are currently actively supporting DocBike!

• Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance
• Devon Air Ambulance
• Kent Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance
• Welsh Air Ambulance
• Midlands Air Ambulance
• The Air Ambulance

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