New North West Air Ambulance - Merseyside

[jayteeto]

The NW Air Ambulance just got bigger. As of today, the Murrayfield/Birkenhead aircraft went online. Initially they will be co-based at Barton until their new Birkenhead base is complete. Seven days a week, operating an EC135.
Cue the usual crap jokes about stealing wheels.

[MightyGem]

24 hours ops would be good. Did a case vac last night. Heart attack victim. Paramedic was doing CPR in the back all the way to the hospital. We did suggest that a ground ambulance might have been the better option.

[jayteeto]

Gets very exciting when they are hard at work in the back, doesn't it? Looks like someone has thrown a hand grenade in the cabin when they run off to rescus!

[wigglyamp]

Why are so many air ambulance flights used when not really essential?
Air ambulances seem to be mostly funded by chargeable donations so it seems a very poor use of scare resources. Here's another example where it really didn't seem appropriate when there's a major A&E within 10 minutes. The driver was released the same day with minimal injuries

Several hurt in Chobham school coach crash - Get Surrey (http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/several-hurt-chobham-school-coach-4810270)

[Aucky]

The article is inaccurate. St Georges in Tooting doesn't have a helipad, yet. The hospital 'with major A&E within 10 mins' you spoke of, presumably Frimley Park, doesn't cater for neuro trauma/inpatients (http://www.frimleypark.nhs.uk/services/neurology), and the driver had a serious head injury - often time critical, whether life saving, or preserving quality of life. He probably either went by land to St Georges, or flew to Kings, in either case to receive rapid neuro treatment which is a good enough reason for carrying if the docs decide it's necessary...

[Paracab]

Helicopters are used more as a delivery tool of the medical team; not so much for transportation. It's difficult to look after a critically ill patient in the back of an air ambulance size aircraft.

The major trauma network has now been introduced to the UK and often one, maybe two 'normal' emergency departments maybe passed whilst en route to a major trauma centre.

[jayteeto]

You react and are tasked on initial reports, often confused and chaotic. Better to be there and not needed than someone dies and the coroner wants to know why you were sat at base 'just in case he wasn't badly hurt'.

[Paracab]

MightyGem,

Current evidence suggests that CPR on the move is ineffective, it's usually better to stay put. Of course there are cases that should always be transported but the majority shouldn't.

I'd rather do CPR in a helicopter rather than in the back of an Ambulance any day. Hanging on with one hand and doing chest compressions with the other isn't much fun.

[wigglyamp]

Aucky

I was thinking more about St Peter's A&E at Chertsey which is just a 5 minute drive past Fairoaks from the accident site. The driver was released the same day so the assessment of major neuro injury doesn't seem correct.

Incidentally, if Frimley Park can't handle trauma cases, why did they spend all the money on the helipad which doesn't appear to get any use?

[Aucky]

St Peters doesn't do Neuro trauma either, they use the services of St George's. The article you linked said the patient had serious but not life threatening head injuries. It might have turned out to be less serious than first thought but better safe than sorry, or it might be that their rapid intervention prevented it from being more serious.

Frimley - they can deal with some trauma but aren't a Major Trauma Centre, they don't have Neuro. Nice big pad though :)

If they went to George's as the article said they didn't fly anyway - it doesn't have a pad.

[MightyGem]

Gets very exciting when they are hard at work in the back, doesn't it?
Don't know. I was too busy coping with my first motorway take off in the dark and then trying to find a hospital that we couldn't find in the HLS directory, because everyone was calling it by a different name than it was listed. :uhoh:
Thank goodness for post codes and the mapping system.

I'd rather do CPR in a helicopter rather than in the back of an Ambulance any day. Hanging on with one hand and doing chest compressions with the other isn't much fun.
Good point, but there's a distinct lack of space in the back of a Police cab which doesn't leave a lot of room for that sort of thing.

[jayteeto]

Which hospital?

[MightyGem]

North Staffs. No one said where it was and I was looking under Stafford. Had no idea it was Stoke on Trent. When we landed there the bobby said,"Oh yeah. I've been here before with Scotty". :ugh:

[jayteeto]

Manchester is like that as well. At least you had the details for the new stoke hospital, the old pad is less than a km away.