Lady Montagu of Beaulieu yesterday (Wednesday) officially launched the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance’s night time Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) operations across the Isle of Wight.
Fundraisers and local dignitaries, including the Island’s Lord-Lieutenant Major General Martin White, were invited to Priory Bay Hotel in Seaview to hear about the work of the life-saving air ambulance and her crew. Guests were able to get up close and personal with the new Eurocopter helicopter and speak to the pilot, doctors and paramedics about the work they carry out 7 days a week and now, 19 hours a day.
Noel Dobbs, Chairman of the Board of Trustees welcomed guests to the launch before Captain Dave Nicholls spoke of the challenges that he and the rest of the crew face when landing in the dark. Captain Nicholls explained in detail about the vast array of on board equipment now available to ensure a safe, effective and speedy response.
HIOWAA, in partnership with Thames Valley Air Ambulance, is now providing an additional 7 hours of coverage every night until 02:00 across the counties of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Both helicopters will remain operational in their respective counties for 12 hours every day and then take it in turn for a period of 16 consecutive nights to cover the 7 hour night-service.
Speaking to Island Echo, Alex Lochrane, CEO of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance said:
“The build up to this has been about two-and-a-half years in the making. My predecessor and the trustees identified that there was very probably a need to extend our service beyond the hours of daylight. They needed to identify a helicopter and work with Bond Air Services to precur that helicopter. The aircraft arrived brand new to the country in July last year before being fitted out and arriving at our airbase – Thruxton – in October.
“The teams inside – the paramedics, doctors and pilots – started an intensive period of training for night operations, which includes wearing night vision googles and different procedures. Not more risky procedures, just different procedures to land the helicopter at scene in the dark.
“We managed to get the training completed by January and at that point the three key partners of HIOWAA, South Central Ambulance Service and Bond Air Services, as well as our partner charity Thames Valley Air Ambulance sat down and agreed that we were ready and that the person that would benefit from us starting early is the patient. On 23rd January the capability went live and on the 28th we had our first night mission”.
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Explaining the benefits of the night time HEMS operations, Dr Simon Hughes told Island Echo:
“It’s a hugely valuable extension to the service.
“My day job, when I’m not with the air ambulance, is working in the major trauma center at Southampton and we know that trauma doesn’t stop when it goes dark. Some of the most difficult incidents are at night time for a variety of reasons. For us to be able to bring the added HEMS capability is greatly appreciated by the emergency crews on the ground.
“We can perform advanced critical interventions at the scene that are normally only provided in the hospital. We bring the hospital to the patient. Having done that we can then extremely rapidly convey the patient to the most appropriate hospital.
“Were we not able to fly at night, for patients on the island, this would significantly extend the time it takes to get to a major trauma center.
“We are one of the tiny number of air ambulances across the country that are flying at night and bringing exactly the same skills that are available during the day”.
Looking ahead to the future of the HEMS operations of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, Dr Hughes said:
“I think there is a need for a 24hr service. We are currently scoped to go until 02:00 in the morning.
“I would like all of the shifts to be staffed by a consultant and a paramedic, but there are resource issues with doctors. We are going to be setting up a training program for registrar doctors to specialise in pre-hospital emergency medicine. They will be directly surprised by us as consultants so we are training the future generation of doctors and increasing our cover.
“HEMS teams throughout the country are increasingly looking at carrying plasma in addition to blood, which could make a huge difference. Over the next few years we will look at whether we need to adopt a technique of placing a balloon to stop bleeding from pelvis injuries, and possibly even carrying out heart bypass'”.
Alex Lochrane concluded:
“We save lives. We save lives that I believe, passionately, would not be saved if it wasn’t for the doctor, the paramedic and the kit that comes at 150mph in that very special helicopter. Now I can say proudly, on behalf of everyone, that we can do that with the lights out.
“For people on the M3 or for people on Military Road on the Island, when they need us the most we will be there even if it is after dark.
“From the bottom of my heart I’d like to thank everyone across Hampshire and Isle of Wight who make donations. We couldn’t do this without their generosity”.
Find out how you can help support the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance at https://www.hiowaa.org/support-us.
