Ambulance UK February 2021

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FEATURE PREDICTING RESOURCE DEMAND IN A TIME OF CHAOS Simon Mortimore, assistant director of Business Information at South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) How do you predict the unpredictable? That’s a question I’m sure many of us asked as we began to understand the seriousness of COVID-19 in the early months of 2020. As an ambulance service covering 5 million people from North Oxfordshire to the South Coast of the UK, we are constantly balancing how we meet the needs of the population we serve. It is a challenge to make sure we have our vehicles in the right locations in a normal year – in a pandemic, with no comparable experience, it tested us (as it tested the entire healthcare sector, and indeed everyone) like nothing that had come before. So, how did we manage this? How did we continue to offer a consistency service, while managing stretched resources, with the increased complexity of COVID-19? The key was ensuring having access to accurate, timely and relevant data. As one of ten mainland ambulance services covering England, we were part of the country’s multiagency national COVID-19 response. At the height of the pandemic, that included having multiple conference calls a day with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, sharing data to inform local, regional and national efforts. We could not have done this if our data took weeks to come through. From the very beginning of the pandemic, we realised we needed to be able to do four things: • Identify hotspots to inform resource demand planning • Capture data today to inform our actions tomorrow • Sharing intelligence across multiple agencies, both to improve our overall understanding and sense check our ideas, as well as ensure consistency across key metrics • Integrate additional data sources to enhance our own experience and ability to react appropriately presentations of information, and share it with relevant stakeholders to inform their decision-making. This included being able to meet the needs and preferences of different audiences – whether they wanted their data in charts and numbers or maps, we were able to provide the same information in a variety of ways with the click of a button. The level of insights we were able to generate had a direct impact on our understanding of how COVID-19 was affecting our region and where resources were needed. For example, within our coverage we have the demographically very similar urban areas of Portsmouth and Slough. However, we started to see hotspots developing in Slough, while Portsmouth had a much lower rate of cases. Reviewing the data, we were able to identify that Portsmouth’s location as an island had made it much easier for the city to manage social distancing and how traffic came in and out of the area. Slough, with its position at the end of the M4, has a much higher transitory population, even during lockdown, leading to more hotspots. By having access to data, we could see all this and plan accordingly. We were able to react with the right resources, whether vehicle, paramedic or equipment, as well as predict where future resources would be needed. We’ve also been able to develop early warning indicators, which has helped us plan for both the usual winter challenges, but future waves of coronavirus as well. As I write this the first vaccines are being rolled out, but I don’t think anyone believes the challenges we have faced will disappear overnight. That’s why our continued use of data is critical to make sure that we can deal with whatever comes up, and make sure our patients receive the best possible care in the shortest amount of time. AMBULANCE UK - FEBRUARY To do that, we needed appropriate systems. However, we quickly realised that many of our existing platforms and tools were not suitable for capturing and analysing the data we would need for COVID-19, and would be overwhelmed if we tried to use them in such a way. This would have had implications both for our pandemic response and other parts of the organisation. In the early stages, our solution was to capture data in Excel. It was simple to use and easy to quickly identify data sources. However, that was always a temporary solution. With speed of the essence, we needed something that could automate our analysis and presentation of data, as well as integrate with a variety of sources and tools, including external demographic datasets from data agency Doorda and the mapping technology of the Ordnance Survey. To do that, we migrated over to Qlik Sense. In doing so, we were able to organise, review and analyse data constantly, automating reports and 8 For further recruitment vacancies visit: www.ambulanceukonline.com
MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT FREE EDUCATIONAL PODCASTS Visit www.ambulanceukonline.com FEATURE In the knowledge that conferences and exhibitions are currently on hold we are delighted to offer you the opportunity to hear the following podcasts listed on www.ambulanceukonline.com further podcasts being added on a regular basis: Management of Traumatic Cardiac Arrest - Richard Lyons Peak Performance Under Pressure - Stephen Hearns Obstetric Emergencies in the Pre Hospital Environment - Lucy Powls Basic ECG recognition - Steve Evans MBE Picking up the Pieces - Dr John Chatterjee & Steve Jones This unique section on our web site also gives you the opportunity to see the following products being demonstrated: • I-view(tm) video laryyngoscope • Water Rescue toddler • EOlife Ventillation Monitor • Quantum Life Warmer We are also seeking further presentation/podcasts to add to this exciting new educational concept therefore if you have anything to submit that would interest those working in Pre Hospital Care, Resuscitation and Simulation please forward it to info@mediapublishingcompany.com IT’S FREE - IT’S EDUCATIONAL - IT’S REWARDING WWW.AMBULANCEUKONLINE.COM Volume 35 No. 5 DEDICATED TO THE AMBULANCE SERVICE AND ITS SUPPLIERS October 2020 Discover the Quantum DIFFERENCE THE Prehospital Blood &Fluid Warming Solution Blood & Fl uid Wa rm in ng Sy ys te m Volume 30 No. 4 Winter 2020 Gastroenterology Today New Ways of Working within Endoscopy One of the impacts of Covid-19 is the way the NHS is accepting and encouraging new ways of working. But is this true in endoscopy? In this edition, we look at insourcing with 18 Week Support as a solution, the actual experience of our nurses and clinicians working on these short-term contracts and explore the differences in working life with 18 Week Support compared to their day to day jobs in their home trusts. Volume 7 No. 2 Autumn 2020 Resuscitation Today A Resource for all involved in the Teaching and Practice of Resuscitation Volume 2 No. 2 Autumn 2020 SimulationToday A resource for all involved in the teaching and practice of simulation ENHANCE PAEDIATRIC SIMULATION WITH REALITi Train critical skills required for your most vulnerable patients AMBULANCE UK - FEBRUARY FAST | EFFECTIVE | SAFE | INTUITIVE | LIGHTWEIGHT | POWERFUL EXCLUSIVE TO See reverse for Simulation Today See reverse for Resuscitation Today Do you have anything you would like to add or include in Features? Please contact us and let us know. 9
Page 1 and 2: Volume 36 No. 1 February 2021 DEDIC
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS CONTENTS Ambulance UK 5 ED
Page 5 and 6: EDITOR’S COMMENT EDITOR’S COMME
Page 7: THE TIRELESS ARM THAT SAVES FEATURE
Page 11 and 12: The 3.5t Environmental Ambulance of
Page 13 and 14: Four things in one pack, NEWSLINE o
Page 15 and 16: NEWSLINE AMBULANCE UK - FEBRUARY Fo
Page 17 and 18: NEWSLINE April, we were ready and w
Page 19 and 20: NEWSLINE me as having relapsing, re
Page 21 and 22: NEWSLINE local ambulance crews face
Page 23 and 24: NEWSLINE SECAmb Wellbeing Manager,
Page 25 and 26: NEWSLINE SWASFT Ground-breaking cri
Page 27 and 28: IN PERSON Joe and Bethan receive MB
Page 29 and 30: IN PERSON won an award in The Excel
Page 31 and 32: COMPANY NEWS Terrafix, in partnersh

Ambulance UK February 2021

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