(^42) Hampshire Life: February 2019
cardiac arrests and collapses;
18 per cent were sports injuries
and falls; 16 per cent were horse
riding incidents; four per cent
were industrial injuries and
three per cent were transfers.
Following a 999 call, the Air
Ambulance can be airborne
within four minutes and reach
anywhere in Hampshire within
15 minutes and anywhere on the
Isle of Wight within 20, delivering
the same level of care you would
expect from a hospital emergency
department, including lifesaving
interventions such as blood
transfusions and anaesthesia.
The service operates 365 days
a year, using an H135, the latest
generation of EC135 helicopter,
which can land in areas the size
of a tennis court and on almost
any terrain. Since the start of
flying operations in 2007, the
charity has steadily expanded its
service. Landmark milestones
include the introduction of
regular doctor-led crewing
(doctors are on board for 97
per cent of missions) and the
start of night operations from
2016, crucially enabling the
Air Ambulance to land on a
motorway after dark, which in
the winter months can mean any
time from 4.00pm, at the height
of rush hour traffic, providing
emergency medical support
where and when it is needed
most.
In addition, a Critical Care
Team vehicle, a specially
converted Volvo 4x4, became
operational in February 2017,
providing a parallel service that’s
able to get to more difficult to
reach urban areas and operate
when the helicopter is grounded
because it is too wet or windy.
Following the formalisation of
a new three-way partnership
between HIOWAA, University
Hospital Southampton (the
Major Trauma Centre for the
southern region) and South
Central Ambulance Service on
1 November last year, two more
HIOWAA Critical Care Team
Vehicles will become operational,
both with new specialist
equipment.
John continues: “We do four
shifts: a car shift, two flying shifts
and a desk shift where you sit
in ambulance control trawling
through and interrogating the
jobs that come in, as not all
of them are critically unwell,
sometimes actually speaking
to the patient to determine
how serious it is. If they are
seriously ill, we dispatch the
helicopter. In the past we used
to get dispatched a lot which
is all time and fuel. This is
about prioritisation and early
identification.
“I usually start on the car
shift which roves inner city
areas around Portsmouth
and Southampton which are
not impossible to land in, but
certainly more difficult. In the car
we tend to support road teams
with difficult medical conditions.
The second shift tends to be
the flying shift with a 50-50
split between trauma (such as a
motorcycle accident) and what
we call Big Sick medical (such as
heart attacks and cardiac arrests).
AIR AMBULANCE
backadmin
(backadmin)
#1