Another accident on the M25 today, near Junction 27. The anti-clockwise carrigeway was completely closed. The injured were removed by the air ambulance - and?
I have read that on a proportion of jobs (accidents) the air ambulance MUST be used, presumably to justify its existence. This coupled with the fact that the helicopter has to land on the road, causes extra delays. Are there any locations at which it is impossible to use the road ambulance?
Is it the case that a few egos have to be massaged - "we are more important/wealthy than you, we have an air ambulance in our area"
I have heard that frequently a road ambulance is in the vicinity, but it cannot be used because "that is an air ambulance job" as a consequence the injured are slower getting to hospital and motorists are delayed more.
Why does the media report it as "the injured HAD to be taken to hospital by air ambulance". They didn't HAVE to be taken by helicopter, someone decided that they would.
Ooh I feel much better now.
Don drbe
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I heard a talk once by someone representing the Berkshire Air Ambulance.
At that time they received NO central funding, but I think they now get a small proportion of their running costs.
However, I was convinced by the point that travel by air is not only a lot quicker, but a lot less traumatising for a patient, and will nearly always result in less severe after-effects.
I don't think the "more wealthy than you" argument is very sound at all. The air ambulance will take anyone regardless of wealth or where they live: it's where you have the accident that matters. (And, in Berkshire, it used to be which day, as they only had sufficient funding for 5 or 6 days per week...).
If delays caused by others serious misfortunes are a problem, why not use the train?
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The Air Ambulance is undoubtedly sent to a lot of details where it is not necessary. The problem for the controllers is that until a patient has been assessed by a paramedic/doctor there is no way of knowing the severity of their injuries, therefore the air ambulance will be despatched if it sounds as if there could be or are likely to be severe injuries:
a.Because it will occasionally contribute to a patients survival.
b.Because it has to justify it?s existence.
Whether the air ambulance is worth the money that it costs for what it delivers is open to debate. In my opinion, if they want them, they should be fully funded by the government.
Reggie
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I rather lost faith in my County's AA policies when I heard it was sent to a school playing field to pick up a lad who had twisted his ankle. This being in a large town with its own hospital about a mile away.
At over £300 an hour it seemed like a very wasteful and expensive pr exercise.
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I believe the costs are pretty much the same whether it's sitting on an airfield waiting for a call or whether it's out attending something...
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Oops - and another statistic I heard was that a road ambulance costs well over £200 per call against somewhere around £300 for the air ambulance. Not a huge difference, in the scheme of things.
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Tend to agree with most of the above but would just say this: if you or I or one of our family were badly injured and we were given the choice of an air ambulance or not we'd all take it wouldn't we? The problem is complicated and not made any easier by the problems in intensive care units where beds are often unavailable forcing lengthy trips elsewhere. I'm sure there are times when, with hindsight, the air ambulance wasn't really necessary but for every one of them I suspect there are more where lives have been saved as a result. A few weeks ago (despite living close to a brand new general hospital) my youngest son had to be taken in an ambulance to a central London Paediatric Intensive Care Unit - it was a long and unpleasant journey by road during which serious problems may have arisen. I wouldn't have thought twice about chosing the air ambulance and there are many more serious cases than our every day of the week. I think we need more of them and that they should be properly funded and not have to rely on charities , donations and wealthy benefactors for their survival.
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I live on the Costa del Sol, where the "free" ambulance service is run by the Cruz Roja - the Spanish Red Cross. Many of the ambulances are staffed by, shall we say, less than fully trained personnel, who do a good job within their limitations.
Those who can afford it subscribe to private ambulance services, as in fact I do.
We use Helicopteras Sanitarios, who for a modest £150 a year for a couple, will attend you anywhere in their area of operations. Each vehicle carries a fully qualified DOCTOR and is equipped with state of the art resuscitation units etc.
As the name implies if access to the patient is not possible by road or a really quick response is needed, one of their fleet of helicopters is despatched instead.
Is there room in UK for a similar service - I bet there is!
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The Air Ambulance is undoubtedly sent to a lot of details where it is not necessary. The problem for the controllers is that until a patient has been assessed by a paramedic/doctor there is no way of knowing the severity of their injuries, therefore the air ambulance will be despatched if it sounds as if there could be or are likely to be severe injuries:
I was behind an 'old boy' who knocked a young lad off his bike on a country road a few years ago, the lad said he was fine but I called for an ambulance anyway. The (road) ambulance arrived at the same time as the air ambulance which apparently is dispatched if there are any incidents involving kids. Anyway the lad was fine just a little shaken (Kids made of rubber and all that) and was taken to he hospital by the road ambulance for a check up, so the air ambulance wasn't needed after all.
It was pretty cool though when the paramedic let the air ambulance know he wasn't needed the pilot gave a Harrier jump jet style nod.
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A lot of hospitals in Germany seem to use air ambulances very routinely. The country has a lower population density than the UK and I guess they save a lot of time compared to road ambulances. They carry paramedics and a doctor.
I witnessed a road accident in a very rural area and the air ambulance was there within a couple of minutes - it was very impressive indeed. Based on what I've seen I wouldn't mind their more widespread use in the UK.
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The emergencey services at an incident work to what we call the "Golden Hour" this is from time of impact to lying on the surgeons table in hospital, so any call to the ambulance service that may seem life critical, the the air ambulance will be called
to assist or take the casualty to hospital to save time. I have worked with the air ambulance at many incidents and at 9 out of 10, the casualty needed to be transported this way due to there injurys (road traffic accidents) but if it is in the area it will attend or be in the vicinity of most calls just in case.
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The background to the "golden hour" is that Israeli surgeons during one of their wars notied that wounded soldiers landing on their operating table within an hour of suffering their injuries stood a far greater chance of survival than those delayed past the hour. I seem to recall that they initially believed it to be around ten times the survival rate in the case of stomach wounds.
In light of this, the Air Ambulance would look like a good idea. I certainly would like it to be available if I'm lying on a roadside bleeding to death. If it gets called out to cases where someone MIGHT benefit, but later turns out to be OK, is that so bad? Also, if the costs mentioned above are true, it's not even to much of a strain on budgets.
V
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I spoke to my heli-flying friend 'chopper dan' about this, and explains the following:
Normally a despatcher will look at a number of factors before sending the air ambulance... they are: reported severity of accident, whether the beast is in the air anyway (some here are combined traffic monitors/ambulances), the expected or reported traffic flow in the neighbourhood, and the distance from hospitals.
Once the chopper arrives, an new assesment is made ... who is hurt? how are they hurt?
So kids will be flown to the kiddies hospital, burn victims to a place with burns unit, others to orthopaedic etc.
This saves a fair amount of ferrying later.
Also of note, is that often an air ambulance will be on 'call' for a specific time/area because there is a major sports event/concert/etc on, and the roads will be chaotic.
This chopper will be ready in case something major happens at said event AND also respond to other calls in the neighbourhood.
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I have seen the Essex air ambulance land three times in total all for spinal injuries
One was a small boy falling out of a tree the other two where motorcycle accidents. There are so many charity events for the essex air ambulance that I assume it is entirly funded from donations.
I always thought they used them for spinal type unjuries as the ride would be smoother/quicker by helicopter.
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