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Inverurie man providing support as Red Cross volunteer


By Kyle Ritchie

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A young Inverurie man is part of the team of Red Cross volunteers that has been working to keep people safe and supporting communities across the north-east.

They say trouble always come in threes, but the last few weeks have seen the Red Cross supporting communities through three real challenges to keep people safe.

Winter is no surprise in rural Scotland, people living in rural communities are often well prepared and resilient to emergencies, but the Red Cross can bring in their support and experience to support where needed.

Emergency response volunteers are on standby all year round to respond to any emergency. Adding in Covid and the teams have stood up into an effort the Red Cross has described as one of the longest and busiest responses seen in peace time.

Calum Leitch (19) from the north-east community has been part of the effort to help people.

During Storm Darcy teams from the Red Cross were deployed in 4x4 vehicles to transport community nurses delivering Covid vaccines to housebound patients, often driving through artic conditions. Their vehicles were also able to get through the snow to transport critical care NHS staff, collecting them from their homes to start their shifts looking after patients.

Volunteers helped people who were affected by the recent heavy snow.
Volunteers helped people who were affected by the recent heavy snow.

When the gas supply was lost across 5000 homes in Huntly and Keith, 18 Red Cross volunteers and community reserve volunteers assisted in the distribution of heaters, information leaflets, and conducted wellbeing checks, visiting more than 2000 homes across the area.

This has all been in addition to the support the charity has been giving the NHS during their vaccination rollout. Red Cross volunteers are in place in vaccination centres across the north-east welcoming people and freeing up NHS staff to concentrate on delivering jabs safely.

In some areas, the Red Cross are also coordinating other voluntary organisations to support the vaccination rollout.

Volunteers have also been involved in distributing PPE on behalf of the NHS to care homes, and care staff across the Highlands, supporting out of hours GPs on Orkney, and distributing hygiene and food packs across Shetland.

Senior emergency response officer for the Red Cross Nick Mort said: “We couldn’t have done any of this without our amazing volunteers, who give up their time freely and selflessly to help people and their communities."

Calum was inspired to volunteer for the British Red Cross after he was supported by the organisation when his family home was badly flooded a few years ago

He started off in event first aid in 2017 before moving to ambulance support in May 2020

Volunteering for the service has taught Calum key skills and boosted his confidence. He now hopes to study paramedic science at Robert Gordon University

His duties currently include transporting patients to and from hospital and he has completed training to deal with frontline ambulance support and is now transporting patients with Covid-19 to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Calum has been doing two shifts a week, transporting on average four patients a day. Since completing his latest training course he has been transporting Covid patients.

He said: “The main precautions we take are wearing the PPE and making sure the vehicle is cleaned down afterwards.

"The first time I took a Covid patient it was quite scary but it does feel safe now, knowing we have those protections in place.

“I was worried about how infectious the patient might be but we have all the right protections in place.

“You do feel for the families when we take their loved ones into the ambulance, and it affects you as well, but the Red Cross makes sure we get support to look after us as well.

Red Cross volunteer Calum Leitch.
Red Cross volunteer Calum Leitch.

“I get quite an interesting response at the moment, being quite young. I've often had people in the back of the ambulance ask me how old I am.

“It's really rewarding to make sure that people get where they need to be. It's really nice to know that people are getting home safe and settled when they do get home.

“The feedback from people has been really positive, especially when they find out you’re a volunteer. Some people think it is absolutely crazy to do 12-hour shifts and get paid nothing for it but it is such rewarding work to do.

“It's so nice to know, because there's times that the Red Cross have been the saving grace for getting somebody home. I've had people cry, because the Red Cross has been able to take them home. Those reactions are real and that's been such a lovely thing to see.”

Calum’s volunteering experience has also helped shape his career choices.

He added: “I applied to do medicine, as I was leaving school. And the university that I got into wasn't the one I wanted to go to.

"So, I took a gap year with the intention of reapplying for medicine. But the more that I volunteer with the Red Cross the more that I've come to the conclusion that I would actually be better suited as a paramedic rather than a doctor."


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