Our impact | September 2024

A total of 44 missions took place at night, when our pilots need to use specialised night vision goggles.

Swindon was the most frequently visited area, with 19 missions taking place in September. Our critical care team also attended 12 missions in the city of Bath, eight in Chippenham and seven in Trowbridge. 

We performed 21 patient transfers to various hospitals, including seven to Royal United Hospital in Bath, six to Great Western Hospital in Swindon and four to Southmead Hospital in Bristol. We transferred patients to seven different hospitals across the region.

In terms of mission types, our crew were called to 29 cardiac emergencies, 16 road traffic collisions and attended 19 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 September, our aircrew carried out eight procedural sedations and five 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 nine patients with advanced airway management, and on 10 occasions the team used the LUCAS machine to deliver CPR.