SSI Energy has won contracts to provide paramedics on the Greater Gabbard and East Anglia One offshore wind farms in the UK.
SSI Energy’s paramedics will provide medical support as part of the operations and maintenance team on Greater Gabbard and will work together with Turner Iceni during construction of the East Anglia One offshore wind farm.
According to the UK-based company, employing the paramedics means lives can be timely saved offshore in emergencies such as strokes, heart and asthma attacks and anaphylactic shock, as well as the full range of traumatic emergencies including open fracture and falls from height, with false reporting cut considerably.
The paramedics have undergone technical training and are said to provide a significantly higher-grade service to that currently offered by technicians with first-aid training.
“This can make significant cost-saving to operators as paramedics are far more capable of diagnosing correctly and have a significant protocol of drugs at their disposal as well as SSI doctor support to enable them to carry out treatment offshore without having to return a patient to the base unnecessarily,” Duncan Higham , SSI Energy Managing Director, said.
“That said, when something serious does happen, they are much more likely to recognise the signs and symptoms early ensuring the ERP is swiftly enacted.”
Currently, there are two paramedic-technicians working shifts on Greater Gabbard and one on East Anglia One, who will be joined by another paramedic in the summer.
The development of the model was supported by a GBP 50,000 grant from the SCORE (Supply Chain innovation for Offshore Renewable Energy) scheme, which promotes new ideas and efficiency improvements in offshore renewables.
The fully commissioned 504MW Greater Gabbard wind farm comprises 140 Siemens 3.6MW turbines located 23km offshore Suffolk.
The 714MW East Anglia One offshore wind farm is currently being built some 45km off Lowestoft and will comprise 102 7MW Siemens Gamesa turbines scheduled for full commissioning in 2020.