(Reproduced from the Bath Chronicle)

A Fleet of powerful motorbikes will soon be weaving its way through the streets of Bath, helping to save lives. The bikes, with distinctive yellow and blue flash stripes, lights and sirens, will be providing an out-ofhours medical courier service for the Royal United Hospital.

The specially adapted bikes, which are run by a charity, will be transporting blood, drugs, X-rays and other medical supplies between hospitals.

Their speedy response times and their ability to cut through heavy traffic will help improve emergency deliveries to the RUH.

Daniel Messom, RUH discharge liaison nurse, said: "Having worked for many months to set this project up, we are excited it is finally under way.

"It will help us to provide an even better service to our patients and, best of all, it comes at no cost to the trust."

The Freewheeler Emergency Volunteer Service is provided outside normal working hours, with volunteer riders on call evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

Freewheelers' chairman Ian Moore said: "Our service is completely free to the hospitals as all our riders give their time free of charge, so our main running costs are the motorcycles, which are owned by the charity, petrol and insurance.

"Having motorcycles with lights and sirens for urgent cases means we can also deliver urgently required items, such as scans and medical notes, through congested traffic much more effectively than any alternatives."

The service will also reduce delivery costs for the RUH as it eliminates the need to send items by taxi.

All riders are trained by the Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists and must be over the age of 25.

The charity is entirely funded by donations and sponsorship and is keen to recruit more volunteers to help with fund-raising or deliveries.