Biker Down Volunteer (Biker Down Volunteer)

Biker Down is the UK Fire and Rescue Services’ response to a safety concern they identified amongst bikers, namely that bikers often ride in company and the first person ‘on scene’ at a motorcycle accident is often another biker.

The idea of the course is to offer people the ability to train in essential life skills and the knowledge to help them cope should they encounter or be involved in a road traffic collision, rather than just give them information on the consequences. It is believed that this will bring about more of a sense of responsibility when out on the road and hopefully a change in attitude that will keep them safer, both in their riding technique and how they react at the roadside.

There are three modules on the course.

Incident Scene Management - focuses on how to ensure the safety of responders, the fallen rider and anyone else involved in offering first aid, as well as advice on alerting the emergency services.

Casualty care - looks at dealing specifically with motorcycle-related first aid including typical trauma and mechanism of injury to legs, dealing with major bleeds and basic life support, CPR, managing spinal injuries and crash helmet removal.

The Thinking Biker - this input looks at the way the brain interprets data sent by the eye so that what’s visible isn’t always seen and offers some positive advice on how to make the most of the rider’s chances of being seen.

Biker Down teams have been delivering the course at Fire Stations across the Country. There are now thousands of Bikers out there riding, with this crucial training, and we have received feedback from several attendees who have used this training to save lives; not just bike accidents but also car crashes and in their personal lives.

You will be expected to attend a session prior to being interviewed about becoming a Biker Down volunteer. This will be arranged after your application has been submitted.