The Biker NI Safety – CRASH CARD –will be at this weekend’s Adelaide Blackhorse Motorcycle Festival, to be held over the next three days in the New King’s Hall Pavilion – Balmoral – Belfast.
The CRASH Card was originally designed by paramedics through the Ambulance Motorcycle Club.
The card was launched at last year’s motorcycle festival and brought the “Ambulance Motorcycle Club” Crash Card initiative to Northern Ireland.
The card is supported by the major agencies involved in keeping us safe on the road:
- PSNI Bikesafe –
- Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) –
- Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS)
- And…over 5,000 of the cards were distributed through selected motorcycle dealers, motorcycle clubs and individual motorcyclists.
Trevor Baird from Right To Ride, (who distributes the cards in Northern Ireland through the motorcycle safety initiative Ride It Ride) comments, “The emergency services and their personnel are at the forefront of dealing with collisions on our roads, from the minor to the major ones. If the card helps them to medically deal with these and subsequently helps riders, then we hope that both riders and pillions take the card to their hearts and carry them close to their heads.”
He adds, “Thanks this year must go Bill Holden and the PSNI Bikesafe initiative for providing extra funding which has enabled us to be in the position to distribute further 5,000 of the CRASH CARDS.”
So what is the CRASH CARD?
Motorcyclists are provided free of charge with a card, which is place inside their helmet as a medical alert, details which the rider has written on the card provides vital information for attending ambulance crews or emergency responders if the motorcyclist is injured in a road traffic collision or unable to talk coherently because of concussion or having been knocked out.
To let those attending know about this vital information the rider places a sticker on the outside of the helmet, on the right hand side (NOT on the visor or other attachments), indicating that a rider or pillion is carrying a safety card inside the lining of their helmet.
The wording on the sticker is aimed at anybody who may, in an attempt to help at the scene of a road traffic collision try to force a helmet off a rider’s head, keeping the helmet in place until emergency responders assess the situation.
However the “job” of the card does not stop there, one side of the card has the memory aid CRASH, which is intended to be a set of easy to remember steps if you are the one making the 999 call and follows a similar set of questions universally used by ambulance service control centres, and focuses on safety, the location of the accident, and how serious it is.
Ian Burrell founder of the CRASH card helmet safety program, recently awarded an MBE says, “The simplicity of the programme is its strength we are still amazed that thousands of motorcyclists a month choose to take a card and help themselves and others in potentially their hour of greatest need.”
The CRASH CARD has won many accolades including Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in 2011 and FIM International Road Safety Award in 2012 together with the award for the most one of the most innovative medical product in the USA last year at the Gems 10 awards.
The card is also available in US with Rider Alert, Sweden with its ‘Medical Card’, Portugal, Romania and Finland, we are proud to be part of this CRASH CARD family in Northern Ireland..
If you are at the festival, come along and find us there, or you can get a card at the Bikesafe stand or from MotoTech on stand 33.
If you are not coming along to the festival, you can find out where to get a card on the Biker NI Safety Card website – Get A Card – www.bikernisafetycard.org
Links & Information
Crash Cards in Northern Ireland – www.bikernisafetycard.org
On Facebook – www.facebook.com/BikerNiSafetyCard
Official website of the CRASH Card scheme –
www.crashcard.co.uk
www.moto-tech.biz
Festival opening times:
Friday – 7th February – 2pm – 10pm
Saturday – 8th February – 10am – 5pm
Sunday – 9th February – 10am – 5pm
Ticket prices:
Adult – £12 / €12
OAP – £6 / €6
Children under 14 – free
Buy tickets from Nutt Travel or at the door each day.
Click on Motorcycle Festival at www.nutttravel.com
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www.motorcyclefest.tv
www.adelaideinsurance.com
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