Originally Posted by
Geoffersincornwall
It's not such a crazy idea. When I did the research for the Cornwall AA back in 1986 I found out that the then market-leaders in Germany were rarely transporting patients. Their advantage was that their crew always included a trauma trained doctor and they were hospital based. The doc would invariably have a road ambulance on hand so he cold fix-up the patient and send him/her on their way back to the GH or specialist centre. If you can start an AA operation with a standard fit helicopter delivering the doc and his kit plus maybe a paramedic, it's a much cheaper option and can give you some good data to enable the case to be made for a full HEMS machine.
If we are talking UK then it is essential to work with the local Ambulance Service and receiving hospitals. Attempts were made in those very early days to short-cut the system in Devon, London (and incidentally in Saudi Arabia). For any HEMS system to succeed it must be embraced by the entire health care system.
G.
DELIVERING CLINICAL SKILL TO SCENE
Norwegian air ambulance managers have described how with 12 ambulance bases and 6 SAR bases they can use an ambulance aircraft to longline a paramedic to a casualty in a difficult location. The paramedic then looks after the casualty while the SAR aircraft is still en route and extraction is then by SAR aircraft with winch.
AYRSHIRE
The OP is talking about Ayrshire. Quick check of posting date: not 1st April. Proceed. It would be hard to think of a less appropriate location for such an effort. Helimed 5 is just a few minutes away, Rescue 199 is at Prestwick, there are no extreme local factors pressing for extra cover (remote rural, intense large city), several key politicians (including FM) and health service figures come from Ayrshire and would be all over this if there were a genuine requirement.