Peter Davis, who founded Bloodbikes Australia has been rewarded for his tireless work with a Personalised Plate “BBA19” to mark the two-year anniversary of the volunteer motorcyclist group.
“It’s an amazing honour and unexpected,” says Peter who was awarded with the plate at a surprise coffee meet-up in Springfield Shopping Centre in Ipswich this morning.
“A lovely gesture from an awesome mob of volunteers,” says Peter who couldn’t wait to fit the plate, organised by Gold Coast volunteer John Eacott, to his Honda cruiser.
Peter and his Honda
BBA
The organisation is based on a British group that started several years ago delivering blood and other medical samples.
The Australian branch started before the pandemic but has since become a pivotal last-resort volunteer service for collecting COVID tests.
Peter says about 98% of their current volunteer work is now in the fight against COVID pandemic.
Bloodbikes Australia volunteers throughout the nation are performing last-resort medical transport when all other methods are not available.
They transport biopsies, medicines, blood, blood tests and even consumables and equipment, helping out when the despatch system is stretched to the limit.
Bloodbikes Australia founder Peter Davis with his personalised plate
Congrats to Peter
Rob Chrisomalidis BloodBikes Victoria: Well deserved, Peter! You’ve founded such a fantastic initiative that combines community service with our passion for riding. We’re delighted to be able to give back!
More than 156 volunteer deliveries of emergency health products including COVID tests have now been transported on motorcycles to hospitals since the Australian arm of Blood Bikes was established in Brisbane in September 2019.
Founder Peter Davis says Bloodbikes Australia now has 154 volunteers nationwide in all states and the ACT, both in major cities and regional areas.
Peter says Bloodbikes Australia does not aim to be a primary pathology transport service provider but to offer an alternative to getting an expensive taxi in an emergency and when all usual methods are exhausted.
Bloodbikes Australia now volunteer for Mater Pathology, Mater Mothers, Qpharm Clinical Trial program, Redlands Private Hospital, Griffith University Institute of Glycomics, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, SydPath Sydney, Epworth Hospital Geelong and Melbourne Pathology.
Since it launched, Bloodbikes Australia has made more than 156 transports of blood, blood product, stem cells, COVID samples, clinical trial program samples, biopsy samples and documentation.
Peter says donor breast milk will soon be added to the list.
“Bloodbikes Australia always welcomes more volunteers and healthcare providers for whom we can volunteer,” he says. Check out their website www.bloodbikesaustralia.org.au for details on how to volunteer.
However, they are currently being primarily deployed to take COVID-19 tests to medical laboratories.
“Our first runs of COVID samples started with our Sydney volunteer, Richard Alder, for St Vincents,” Peter says.
“It involved delivering consumables, label bags etc, picking up samples from the temporary testing stations and getting it to St Vincent’s Sydney laboratory for analysis.”
Richard picks up a sample
Tests ramped up
Two Bloodbikes Australia Brisbane volunteers have now stepped into the breach for Mater Pathology as thousands of residents of southern Brisbane and Logan City have queued up for hours to be tested following a new outbreak.
“Given the increased testing and the temporary, drive-through testing stations, the Mater Pathology couriers just couldn’t cover all the runs,” Peter says.
“Rather than delay analysis and results they called on Bloodbikes Australia, which is exactly our charter to fill in when all else fails.”
Peter has run samples from Metro Medical Centre Springfield Lakes and fellow volunteer Nick Carrigan has taken samples from a temporary testing centre in Cleveland.
Nick picks up a sample
Both are delivering the tests to the Mater Laboratory at Mater Hill in South Brisbane.
“It was so great to feel like you’re helping in the COVID fight rather than being an observer,” says Nick.
Peter says the Canberra Bloodbikes Australia Volunteers may soon be doing test runs for the Canberra Hospital.
He called on people in medical services to contact him about providing services.
He says volunteers can contact the Bloodbikes Australia Facebook as demand for their services ramps up with the second wave of coronavirus infections.
Peter recently rode to NSW and the ACT recently to visit volunteers before borders started closing down.
He says they now have 87 volunteers Australia wide on the NSW Central Coast, Sydney, Canberra. Western NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.
Volunteers make deliveries when all other methods have been exhausted and time is critical.
“It was started because there were circumstances when a motorcycles can be a lot faster than a car in making urgent deliveries of blood to where it is required,” Peter says.
Blood he has delivered has been used in surgery as well as transfusions for cancer patients.
Peter delivers blood supplies to the Mater Hospital
“Bloodbikes Australia is entirely voluntary. We volunteer our time, fuel and motorcycles,” Peter says.
“We are not an emergency service and abide by all the road rules and speed limits. We are not police or ambulance ‘wannabes’.
“We are just motorcycle enthusiasts who want to make our passion for riding available to do some good in the community.”
As an essential medical service, urgent deliveries would also be exempt from any travel restrictions during the current pandemic.
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