Since 2015 our critical care team has administered blood transfusions to severely ill or injured people across the North of England, but this wouldn’t be possible without the help of Blood Bikes.
To mark World Blood Donor Day, we’re shining the spotlight on Blood Bikes Cumbria and Northumbria Blood Bikes who deliver our blood products every single day.
What do Blood Bikes do?
Blood Bikes Cumbria and Northumbria Blood Bikes are charitable organisations that transport blood, plasma, platelets, samples, vaccines and other urgently required medical items to hospitals in the North of England every night.
In addition to this, they provide daily out of hours and weekend delivery of blood products to our bases at Langwathby and Teesside.
This service is carried out free of charge and provided solely by volunteers who selflessly give up their own free time to help others.
Like GNAAS, the funding for Blood Bikes comes from charitable donations from the public.
How are blood products transported?
Blood and blood products such as platelets are packed inside special insulated boxes, and these are then secured to a special rack on the rear of the bike. Their bikes also have panniers where samples can be transported along with non-temperature sensitive items such as instruments or documentation. When the temperature is too cold, a blood car will be used.
What is the delivery route to GNAAS?
On a daily basis, Northumbria Blood Bikes will travel to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle to pick up the blood products. They travel to meet Blood Bikes Cumbria at Hexham General Hospital and provide them with the blood products that need to be delivered to our Langwathby base and receive back the products that were at Langwathby the previous day.
While Blood Bikes Cumbria delivers the new box of blood products to Langwathby, Northumbria Blood Bikes return to the RVI to provide any unused blood products from Langwathby, which are then used during surgery and other procedures in the hospital.
They collect the new blood products for our Teesside base and drop them off at our HQ as well as collecting the previous day’s products and returning them to the RVI.
How far do the Blood Bikes travel for GNAAS?
Blood Bikes Cumbria travel approximately 157 miles per day, 4,775 miles per month and 57,305 miles per year for GNAAS.
Northumbria Blood Bikes travel approximately 130 miles a day, 3,954 miles per month and 47,450 miles per year.
In addition to GNAAS, what other areas do the Blood Bikes cover?
Northumbria Blood Bikes cover all NHS Acute Trusts in the North East and cover hospitals and blood banks in Newcastle, Ashington, Whitley Bay, Gateshead, Hexham, South Shields, Washington, Sunderland, Durham, Bishop Auckland and Darlington.
Blood Bikes Cumbria cover hospitals in North and West Cumbria and also transfer samples from Cumbria to the North East.
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