Highland and Islands Blood Bikes called on to help take coronavirus samples to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness
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Volunteers are helping transport coronavirus samples on motorbikes to a laboratory at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
Highland and Islands Blood Bikes (HAIBB) – which is a charity set up with the sole purpose of couriering vital medical supplies and samples free of charge for the NHS – says it has stepped up its operations in response to a call to help transport Covid-19 samples across the Highland area.
The group had only recently agreed to courier for NHS Highland on a six-month trial, operating in the evenings and weekends, transporting blood samples on certain routes.
Ross Sharp, president of HAIBB, said: “The set up of the charity has taken us about a year and it is only since March that we became fully operational, on a trial basis to see how things go.
"Covid-19 has changed all this and we were delighted to be asked to do much more.
"Although we are a charity in our own right, given the job we do, we are part of a larger Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes. All our riders are committed to a high standard of riding, you will see us wearing our hi-vis blood vests when out on duty with a big red blood box on-board. We also have two emergency response liveried motorcycles, and have undergone product handling training provided by NHS Highland.”
HAIBB will now be operational seven-days-a-week from 6am-8pm, couriering whatever it can safely carry between the area's hospitals and other NHS establishments.
Mr Sharp added: “We are all volunteers, and being able to do this so soon in our existence and at a time of real need really makes everyone at HAIBB so proud and the sense of achievement is just fantastic.
"Everyone please look out for the blood vests and boxes on motorbikes, and if you see our riders out doing their bit please give them a wave, they are doing it for free – free to our NHS.”
