The island’s ambulance service is bringing in seven extra medical staff from elsewhere in preparation for TT, with only a quarter of current staff having experience of working through one.

Will Bellamy, who was appointed head of the service, says that during the races there would be seven to eight ambulances on duty during a 24-hour period for the TT fortnight.

Manx Care clarified to the Courier that normal (non-TT) staffing is for four ambulance crews to be on shift during the day, and three at night – but during this TT additional vehicles and night staffing mean that there will be six crews and four night screws, with up to eight crews able to be on the road at one time if demand requires.

Mr Bellamy said that staff would not be taking leave during the festival, and the mapping had been carried out to identify incident hotspots over the last five years.

Six staff will be brought in from Wales and one from Guernsey under mutual agreements.

He also reminded people that Ramsey Cottage Hospital’s minor injuries unit was available for walk-ins to ease the burden on the service, and to question whether a 999 call was really warranted, if people were able to make their own way to a healthcare facility.

It is due to the ‘large influx’ of staff into the healthcare service that the quarter of them have never experienced a TT, which is returning for the first time since 2019 after a pandemic hiatus.

Mr Bellamy stressed that there were still plenty of those within the service with experience, as well as within the police and fire services – with which the ambulance service has been closely planning.

In summary, he said that they ‘are really well prepared’ for TT.