The St. Helena Ambulance Service of the Health Services Directorate recently received a generous donation of a Mercedes ambulance from DLL, a global provider of asset-based financial solutions. The ambulance was previously used by the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST), NHS. DLL decided to donate the ambulance to St Helena after learning that Senior Paramedic, Michael Gaga-Hale, whilst working for EEAST was going to be taking a career break to work for SHG to develop the Ambulance Service. The ambulance arrived on-Island on the last visit of the MV Helena in September 2022.

With two Senior Paramedics recently employed within the Health Services, the Ambulance Service on-Island has made developments to improve pre-hospital care for the community of St Helena. The additional ambulance now increases the services capacity to respond to patients in the community, provide medical evacuation provision and provide first aid cover at large public events.

Health Services Director, Dr Derek Burke, said, “The donation of this front-line ambulance will enhance our ability to respond appropriately to emergency calls. We thank the DLL Group and the East of England Ambulance Service for their generosity.”

Stephen Richards, DLL Regional Asset Sales Lead – North and East Europe, noted: “DLL is a key source of finance for the healthcare and ambulance sector, and we are committed to using our expertise for good. We welcomed the opportunity to provide the St. Helena Ambulance Service with one of our previously used ambulances in an effort to further improve their ability to provide lifesaving assistance to residents of the island.”

Senior Paramedic, Michael Gaga-Hale, said, “We are very grateful for the donation of the ambulance from DLL. It’s like a little piece of home has arrived on St Helena, as this is the design of ambulance I trained with when working for EEAST. The ambulance is spacious, allowing a larger team of healthcare professionals to work inside when needed. The public are welcome to take a look around the ambulance the next time we are providing public event cover.”