We are a self-funded charity dedicated to providing doctors, nurses and paramedics in rural Scotland with Sandpiper Bags, containing the essential medical equipment they need to save lives.
Sandpiper is gratefully supported by:
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About us
What’s in the globally respected Sandpiper Bag?
Lives touched
Bernard Gallacher
Aberdeen
Gillian Blyth
Cairngorms
Bernard Gallacher
Aberdeen
Gillian Blyth
Cairngorms
Bernard's story
Golfer Bernard Gallacher is a high profile Sandpiper survivor. In August 2013, while attending a Future Energy Golf Event at the Marcliffe, he fell ill. Quick thinking members of the public recognized that he had suffered a cardiac arrest and had started life saving treatment.
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Alongside the ambulance team, Sandpiper responder & A&E anaesthetist, Dr Mark Bloch, arrived shortly afterwards having receiving the 999 call.
En route to the hospital, Bernard suffered three further cardiac arrests in the ambulance and was resuscitated each time by Mark.
Following the incident, Mark said “I took him to accident and emergency at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, from there to the intensive care unit. The ambulance team was outstanding and the members of the public who had started the life support made a vital contribution. It’s the team effort.”
Bernard went on to spend five days in a medically-induced coma at ARI while his wife Lesley and children, Jamie, Laura and Sky Sports presenter Kirsty, remained at his bedside.
Full recovery
Since recovering, Bernard has also paid tribute to Colin Leyden, the defibrillator salesman who was able to use the Marcliffe’s device to keep the golfer alive until Mark and his team arrived.
Bernard has since been fitted with an implantable defibrillator since the cardiac arrests and the device has already been activated twice after washing the car and playing a round of golf.
A Mother's story
On 30th June 2019, my 18-year-old son was driving back to Scotland after visiting friends in England. It was a Sunday afternoon and it was his first long solo motorway drive. Unbeknown to any of us, he had undiagnosed glandular fever a virus that causes chronic fatigue. I spoke to him at 11am just as he was about to leave, I called him again at 1.30pm and told him to take his time.
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His black box showed he had responsibly made two 40 minute stops in service stations to rest between midday and 3pm.
Just after 3 o’clock, my phone rang and I instinctively knew something was wrong. It was my son on the phone, but he had fallen asleep, without any forewarning and crashed into the central reservation of the motorway and was now trapped inside the car. He had no idea where on the motorway he was. All I knew was he was somewhere between Penrith and Scotland. (If you don’t have the 3 Little Words App on your phone, please download it now, as it pinpoints every square metre in the UK.
On another phone, I called 999 whilst talking to him but couldn’t send emergency services, as I didn’t know where he was. I established he could feel both arms and legs and wasn’t bleeding and as he couldn’t open the driver’s door, talked him out of the passenger door. He was climbing out of the car into oncoming motorway traffic and what we didn’t know at the time was he was seriously concussed.
Unbelievably no one stopped to help him, until a white van driver pulled over and put him in his van and he was able to tell me their location. For reasons that I still can’t understand no ambulance was sent to the crash scene, only the police. Fortunately, an off duty GP with a Sandpiper bag in his car stopped and checked him over. I am eternally grateful to that unknown man. The following day my son woke with a dreadful headache and on advice went for a CT scan. He was lucky to have no broken bones or life changing injuries, just concussion. Blood tests, subsequently revealed he had glandular fever.
There will be people reading this who will be critical of various aspects of these events and I am sure will have opinions about “what should” have happened. However, for any parent reading I can tell you that is a phone call I hope you never receive - a child trapped in a car and unable to tell you where they are. We all make the best decisions we can at any moment in time. If it hadn’t been for the GP who stopped to check him over, my son could have had internal bleeding and there would have been no medical attention for hours. In that instance, the Sandpiper bag would have helped provide immediate, emergency treatment.
Donations
Fundraising
Corporate Donations and Fundraising
Clinical volunteering
Patron
Trustees
As Sandpiper has grown, so too has the number of Trustees who freely give their time, experience and advice on an ongoing basis. The original founders are still at the heart of the team but by extending the committee, Sandpiper now also have access to additional skills, opinions and support that help to guide our strategic direction.
Penny Dickson
Aly Dickson
Claire Maitland
Caroline Ross-Stewart
Senior Team
We are a small, but dedicated bunch. We are open to collaborating with like-minded individuals and businesses who share our desire to make rural Scotland safe and its communities as resilient as possible.
Lorna Duff – Manager
Dr Ewen McLeod – Medical Advisor
Partners
BASICS Scotland
BASICS delivers Pre Hospital Emergency Care across Scotland. As an independent charity responsible for the provision of emergency training programmes for doctors, paramedics and nurses in Scotland, BASICS is a natural partner for Sandpiper and since 2004 we have shared the same headquarters in Aberuthven. The contents of the globally respected Sandpiper Bag have evolved based on the latest medical advances and insights gleaned from the wider BASICS team. In addition to the provision of medical equipment, BASICS has designed and introduced a training programme that lifts standards in immediate care to a new level of excellence. This ensures that every trained responder has the skills necessary to save lives.
The Scottish Ambulance Service
The Sandpiper Bag has been fully endorsed by the Scottish Ambulance Service and incorporated into their 999 Emergency Response network, thereby helping reduce response times. When a high priority call comes in, ambulance controllers are able to locate responders via vehicle locator systems, allowing the nearest responder to be despatched immediately. In many cases, responders with Sandpiper Bags are first to arrive on scene, providing vital medical care until an ambulance arrives and often alongside paramedics, until hospital admission. In more remote areas, where ambulance response times can be hampered by geography, location and resources, our partnership has had a significant impact on patient survival rates.
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Shop
Help us save lives by buying one of these exclusive Sandpiper items.
The Swallow, The Owl, The Sandpiper and The Little Red Robin
Team Sandpiper Cycling Jersey
The Sandpiper Cookbook
The Swallow, The Owl and The Sandpiper
The Swallow, The Owl, The Sandpiper and The Little Red Robin
Volume 2 of words of courage, wisdom, spirit and resilience.
Compiled by Claire Maitland MBE with forewords by the Revd Neil N Gardner DL MA BD – Domestic Chaplain to HM The King in Scotland, Gavin Hastings OBE and Annie Lennox OBE.
Team Sandpiper Cycling Jersey
Our jerseys are worn by our hard pedaling fundraisers, but can be purchased here, whatever the use. Our jersey features high performance 140 gram multi dry technical fabric, making this the perfect piece of apparel for any level of cyclist. Each jersey is manufactured using advanced fit technology to provide the most comfortable riding experience.
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The Sandpiper Cookbook
Compiled by Claire Maitland for The Sandpiper Trust. Including recipes from a broad range of people including Gordon Ramsay, The Sandpiper Cookbook has delicious cocktails (including Tiger Woods exclusive wedding cocktail) and, more importantly, emergency medical tips which are essential for all of us.
“All proceeds raised from the sale of this cookbook will help continue the work and the success of The Sandpiper Trust.”
Gavin Hastings OBE (Patron)
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The Swallow, The Owl and The Sandpiper
Compiled by Claire Maitland for The Sandpiper Trust. A collection of thought provoking prose and poetry, to help provide comfort, strength and support during difficult times.
Buy nowNews
News
Here’s what’s happening in our world.
700 Pulse oximeters distributed
Ride the North
700 Pulse oximeters distributed
Sandpiper has recently distributed 700 pulse oximeters to remote and rural GP practices throughout Scotland, to help with the diagnosis of Covid-19. These will be used in the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands, Coll, Arran, Tomintoul, Killin, Callander, Strachur, Mull, Galloway, Kenmay, Skye and other practices throughout Grampian.
Ride the North
Ride the North 2021 will take place in Huntly on Saturday 24th July 2021. There will be distance options of 100km, 140km and 180km. Sandpiper has 20 places available so please get in touch if you’re interested in taking one – [email protected]