Archive for month: March, 2020

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Volunteers who respond to life-threatening emergencies for London Ambulance Service have been given three new response cars to help save lives in the capital.

The Freemasons have donated the high spec Volkswagen Tiguan vehicles — each worth around £40,000 — to the charity that trains volunteers to support London Ambulance Service in its work.

These ‘Emergency Responders’ must pass a rigorous application and assessment process before six days of intensive training where they learn life-saving skills. After successfully completing the training, these volunteers respond to 999 calls in response cars on blue lights.

Athar Khan, Director of Integrated Patient Care at London Ambulance Service, said: “Our highly trained volunteers play a vital role supporting the work of London Ambulance Service’s medics in the capital.’

“These new cars will mean more lives in London are saved. Acts of kindness like this keep our Emergency Responders out on the road answering 999 calls, and I would like to thank the Freemasons for their generous gift.”

Sir Michael Snyder, Metropolitan Grand Master, added: “I am delighted, on behalf of all London Freemasons, to present these three fast response cars for use by the voluntary emergency responders within the London Ambulance Service, to further complement the five cars that London Freemasons generously donated just a couple of years ago.’

“The work of the London Ambulance Service is inspirational in their relentless efforts in assisting all those Londoners in time of need.’

“This role is only achieved by the huge commitment given by the many volunteers from various different walks of life, and I have the utmost respect for their dedicated service across the capital.”

The London Ambulance Service Voluntary Responder Group charity funds the Emergency Responder scheme.

In 2019, these dedicated volunteers gave close to 25,000 hours of their own time attending 8,272 emergency calls.

Of these emergency calls, an ER team was on scene first in almost 6,000 cases. They provide a valuable additional resource in helping London Ambulance in treating more than 1.1m patients a year.

Tim Kirkby has been an Emergency Responder for nearly nine years. He said: “I do a 9 to 5 desk job so I initially started volunteering so I could get out, meet people and make a difference.’

“And most of the time, we really do. I’m usually the first medic on scene and that can often make the difference for the patient: giving early defibrillation can save a life.”

At any time, London Ambulance Service has up to eight Emergency Responder crews on the road. There are currently nearly 150 Emergency Responders on the team but the service is hoping to double that number.

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The Duke of Cambridge has today become Patron of London’s Air Ambulance Charity.

The charity funds London’s Air Ambulance to bring the hospital to the scene, delivering cutting-edge medical care when every second counts.

Last year, The Duke was Patron of the charity’s 30^th anniversary campaign, during which he flew with the crew and met staff and patients from the service.

Through this experience and his own work as an air ambulance pilot, The Duke has seen first-hand the impact of rapid response treatment for the most critically ill patients.

London’s Air Ambulance has a world class reputation for delivering pioneering treatment at the roadside, delivering urgent care to the 10 million people who live and work in London.

Primarily funded by donations made to London’s Air Ambulance Charity, the service is also supported by Barts Health NHS Trust and the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Barts Health NHS Trust provides the doctors, some financial support and the helipad facilities at the Royal London Hospital.

The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust provides the paramedics and the emergency infrastructure to dispatch the service 24 hours a day.

Thanks to The Duke’s support in 2019 at events including the charity’s 30^thAnniversary Dinner and the Kings Cup Sailing Regatta, London’s Air Ambulance Charity was able to boost awareness efforts and reach several key milestones in its 30^th anniversary campaign.

This included securing £1.4 million funding to develop new training and wellbeing facilities for the London’s Air Ambulance crews.

London’s Air Ambulance was founded in 1989 and has treated over 40,000 critically injured people to date. Crews have attended most major incidents in London including 7/7, the Grenfell Tower fire and recent London Bridge terror incident.

In 2019, the helicopter and rapid response cars took an advanced trauma doctor and paramedic to 1,730 patients whose lives were on the line, at a cost of £2,080* to make each mission happen.

Jonathan Jenkins, CEO of London’s Air Ambulance Charity, said: “We are honoured that The Duke of Cambridge has chosen to become Patron of London’s Air Ambulance Charity after getting to know us last year.’

“The Duke truly understands our work and knows that every second counts in an emergency.’

“We know that with his help, as well as the continued support of the public, our crews can reach those who need them most — serving the people of London 24 hours a day, every day of the year.”

Medical Director Dr Tom Hurst said: “We are grateful to The Duke of Cambridge for backing us on our mission to save more lives in London.’

“Critical injury from road traffic incidents, falls from height, assaults and other injuries are the biggest killer of people aged under 40, however our advanced trauma doctor and paramedic teams are dedicated to saving patients whilst developing the potential of pre-hospital emergency medicine.”

For more information on London’s Air Ambulance Charity, and to join on its mission to save more lives visit: www.londonsairambulance.org.uk.

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“I’ll be eternally grateful,” said a Hull grandad when he was reunited with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service team who saved his life.

In January, Rob Thomas was walking to his home in West Hull when he felt unwell. The next thing he remembers is waking up in hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Fortunately when he collapsed, midwife Jess Westcott was passing and started administering CPR. Off-duty Sutton Fields paramedic Ben Mays also happened to be driving past and stopped to help with the life-saving attempt.

Ben said: “I was at the traffic lights and saw someone performing CPR so I pulled over and went to help. Rob had no pulse and wasn’t breathing so we continued CPR until my colleagues arrived.”

Paul Cooke and Charlotte Smith, based at Sutton Fields Ambulance Station, were first on scene, followed by Flossy Roberts-Graham and Corinna Page, based at Brough, and Hull West Red Arrest Team paramedic Steve Dawber.

Seventy-four-year-old Rob said it was a blessing in disguise he collapsed where he did, as if it had happened at home, his wife, who has MS, would have been unable to help him.

“I just can’t tell you enough how fantastic these people are,” said Rob, who visited Hull West Ambulance Station to be reunited with some of his life-savers on 10 March. “I’ll be eternally grateful to everyone, from the off-duty midwife and paramedic who stopped initially, to the ambulance crews and the staff at Castle Hill Hospital, everyone has been marvellous, I can’t speak highly enough of them.”

Steve Dawber said: “The fact that the off-duty midwife and Ben were there so quickly to start CPR gave Rob the best possible chance of survival, but you don’t have to be a healthcare professional to help, CPR is something that anyone can learn. If someone collapses in cardiac arrest, they have a one in ten chance of surviving. If they get immediate CPR and defibrillation, their chances can triple.”

Rob was discharged after undergoing a triple heart bypass at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham. He is now convalescing with his daughter and son-in-law and is recovering well.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service provides free CPR training to around 45,000 students at secondary schools on Restart a Heart Day every year. Secondary schools have until 3 April to sign up to be part the event on Friday 16 October 2020. To register your school, visit www.restartaheart.yas.nhs.uk

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Magen David Adom has recently been coordinating with the Health Ministry, the Israeli government and all other relevant authorities who are dealing with the recent coronavirus pandemic and, in doing so, have been utilising every bit of their expertise in infection control.

Under the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, Magen David Adom began by opening a special hotline focusing on treating people suspected of contracting coronavirus (COVID-19).

This allowed them to closely monitor and track the spread of suspected cases of the virus whilst also going some way to keeping the public calm and showing them that there is no cause for alarm as proper measures of care are in place.

Since the opening of the hotline and at the time of publication, more than 15,000 citizen inquiries have been received at Magen David Adom’s 101 Emergency Call Center regarding coronavirus.

However, it must be made clear that most of these were from concerned citizens who actually revealed no symptoms of the virus at all.

Anyone suspected of coming into contact with the virus is advised to call the hotline where paramedics and other health professionals who field the emergency calls are then joined by an on-call doctor or nurse who goes on to decide how each case should proceed and whether medical care is needed.

One of the most primary points of contact is a dedicated Health Ministry stand, operated 24/7 by MDA, at Ben Gurion airport which has been in place since the beginning of February this year.

The stand checks passengers arriving from China as well as those who have come into contact with individuals who have recently visited the country.

The efforts made by MDA and the Health Ministry in educating the public and in further containing suspected and verified cases of the virus have led to a number of home quarantines.

Volunteer paramedics from MDA visit the homes — in specialised protective clothing — and obtain mucosal samples which are then taken to a laboratory in the centre of the country for further testing.

More than 145 of Magen David Adom’s volunteers have undergone dedicated training on how to collect samples from the patients in order to deny the presence of coronavirus.

As part of the training, paramedics practiced taking the patient’s samples while staying fully protected against infection.

The medics and paramedics in MDA’s 101 Emergency Call Center were also trained to question and manage the cases and Magen David Adom has developed a special system where, among other things, a video call with the patient can be made.

In case an urgent and life-saving evacuation is needed, requiring hospitalisation of a patient suspected of being infected with coronavirus, MDA EMTs will use an insulated stretcher that allows patient evacuation without the risk of further contagion.

So far, more than 30 samples have been taken and it should be emphasized that, up until now, no positive results have been recorded in the country, except for individuals of a special case who returned from a cruise ship in Japan. 

MDA paramedic Fadi Dekaidek, who has taken a few mucosal samples from citizens quarantined within their homes, went on to explain: “Before I enter the home I contact the patient and their family to let them know that I will be arriving and what is likely to happen.’

“I am doing this because it is a complicated situation, requiring a certain amount of reassurance, just the way we were trained.’

“As an MDA paramedic, you find yourself in a complex situation. I walk into the patient’s home for a few minutes, wearing a full protective suit in order to perform the test and immediately leave.’

“The specimen goes to the lab for testing in an airtight box. I hope these people are healthy and that tests will be negative.”

MDA Director general, Eli Bin, stated: “We took the task very seriously and are dealing with it effectively in parallel with MDA’s routine activities.’

“On average, 6,500 calls are received each day in MDA’s 101 Emergency Dispatch Center, and we have the ability to handle even greater loads, as is the case nowadays, where close to 9,000 calls are being answered daily.”

In cases such as these, sometimes a response which shows the public that measures and precautions are in place to guarantee their safety go a long way in decreasing levels of public panic and limit the additional burden placed upon emergency services which would undoubtedly be higher if such measures were not in place.

Add to this the ability to closely track suspected and confirmed cases of viruses and other contagions and the importance of laying a strong foundation for infection control based upon public outreach and education becomes immediately apparent.

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United Hatzalah of Israel recently inaugurated Israel’s first pink ambulance whose specific mission it is to treat women.

The ambulance will be operated by a crew of female volunteer EMTs and paramedics and will respond to any type of medical emergency, but will prioritise responding to incidents in which there are female patients. 

The idea came to fruition following the growth and success of our Women’s Unit, which now numbers close to 100 volunteer responders spread across metropolitan areas in Israel.

According to a statement made by President and Founder of United Hatzalah Eli Beer, “The issue of women helping women isn’t a religious issue — it’s a humanitarian issue. This is a very special day for United Hatzalah.”

The new ambulance was presented at the annual meeting of the Women’s Unit which opened two years ago in Jerusalem and has since grown to incorporate other cities as well.

It was donated by a woman who wishes to remain anonymous. She had heard about the work that the unit is doing and decided to fund an ambulance that will be operated by women specifically from this unit in order to allow them to arrive faster at more medical emergencies. 

Founder of United Hatzalah’s Women’s Unit Gitty Beer spoke about the importance of the new addition to the unit. “We see the importance of the work that the Women’s Unit does on a daily basis and the need for there to be a specified ambulance to help women who prefer being treated by other women.

This new ambulance will be a critical and important aid to the volunteers in the women’s unit, both in providing a faster response as well as providing a training platform for more women to become volunteer EMTs.” 

Gitty added: “When we respond to a woman who is undergoing a miscarriage, the last thing she wants to see is a bunch of male EMTs rush into her bathroom.’

“Having women there to treat her will bring her some semblance of comfort. If there is a CPR call, or someone is choking, then obviously the gender of the responders is irrelevant.’

“However, in cases where there is room for consideration, we like to go the extra mile to help assist the public in providing as much care and comfort as possible to our patients while aiding them through medical emergencies.”