A forward-based training and familiarisation day organised by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) and the Isle of Wight NHS Trust is taking place at St Mary’s Hospital, Newport today (Thursday).
The training day is giving hospital staff, including Ambulance Control Officers, the opportunity to join aircraft familiarisation sessions led by the HIOWAA Critical Care Team.
The HIOWAA Critical Care Vehicle is stationed on the Isle of Wight throughout today and, when not deployed on a mission, the Air Ambulance will be present on the helipad at St Mary’s Hospital too.
Recognising the important role that the Air Ambulance plays in delivering emergency medical care to communities on the Isle of Wight, the programme is giving Trust staff a thorough understanding of the evolving capabilities of the Air Ambulance and the procedures that govern its deployment. The programme also aims to reinforce essential links between the Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight.
In addition, the HIOWAA Critical Care Team are delivering lectures covering the safe handling and clinical management for aeromedical transfers from St Mary’s Hospital to the mainland and examples of recent missions on the Island.
Alex Lochrane, HIOWAA CEO, commented:
“The Air Ambulance provides a life line to the Isle of Wight and it is important that we are constantly seeking to enhance awareness of the service that we provide and our standard operating procedures for transfers to and from the Isle of Wight.
“Our training programmes allow us to remain at the forefront of pre-hospital medical care, constantly improving the service that we provide to our community and we intend that this forward-based training and familiarisation day becomes a regular quarterly event”.
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Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance flies 7 days a week, up to 19 hours a day, and attends an average of 2 to 3 missions a day, many of them life saving. The charity receives no government, statutory or national lottery funding for routine operations, and is entirely dependent on gifts received from members of the public, companies and grant-making bodies to keep the Air Ambulance flying and saving lives.
