Our impact | July 2024

A total of 42 missions took place at night, when our pilots need to use specialised night vision goggles.

Swindon was the most frequently visited area, with 22 missions taking place in July. Our critical care team also attended 13 missions in the city of Bath, seven in Chippenham and six in Devizes. 

We performed 41 patient transfers to various hospitals, with 12 to Southmead Hospital in Bristol, 10 transfers to Great Western Hospital in Swindon and seven to Royal United Hospital in Bath. We transferred patients to eight different hospitals across the region.

In terms of mission types, our crew were called to 25 cardiac emergencies, 22 road traffic collisions and 18 falls. We also attended 11 incidents involving children. 

The crew are often called upon to perform surgical procedures, deliver blood transfusions and administer pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia at the scene of an incident.

During July, our aircrew carried out eight procedural sedations, six patients needed pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia, which is a vital yet high-risk intervention. It is used to gain rapid control of a patient’s physiology following serious traumatic or medical incidents.  

There were three patients who required blood transfusions on scene before being transferred to hospital. We carry two units of O Negative red blood cells, two units of O Positive red blood cells and four units of plasma on board our helicopter and critical care cars.

Our aircrew supported 11 patients with advanced airway management, and on four occasions the team used the LUCAS machine to deliver CPR.

Our pre-hospital doctors administered two regional nerve blocks during July. This is when specific areas can be numbed individually where an operation is being performed. 

This is a skill our critical care paramedics will be able to undertake going forwards as the charity continues to enhance its clinical operations.