Ambulance UK - June 2021

NEWSLINE
multiple improvements in patient
care and a sustained reduction
in musculoskeletal injury for
staff. They are champions of our
just, learning culture, constantly
seeking opportunities to improve
patient and staff safety. They
are excellent team players and
dynamic problem solvers, valued
by clinical and non-clinical
colleagues alike.
“They are a massive credit to
their profession and provide
visible, inspirational and trusted
leadership to their colleagues.”
On receiving the award, Iffa, who
lives in York, said: “This award
is so humbling – we have an
amazing team around us and
that’s what makes being a nurse
in Yorkshire Ambulance Service
such a privilege.”
GWAAC
Great Western Air
Ambulance Charity
- Busiest week on
record for our crew
GWAAC saw a record number
of call-outs during the week
12 –18 April with the crew
responding to 52 incidents
across the week.
Our Critical Care Team bring the
lifesaving skills of an emergency
department directly to those
in urgent need. Usually, they
respond to around five patients a
day, however, last week saw that
rise to more than seven a day on
average, with Friday 16th seeing
them respond to 11 incidents
During this time last year, they
saw a significant drop in their
call-outs, with just 77 incidents
across the whole of April, but
the recent ease in lockdown
restrictions has seen numbers rise
even higher than they were before
the pandemic. In April 2019, they
responded to 162 critically ill or
injured patients, this year they
are expecting a 20% increase in
these figures, responding to an
emergency every three hours on
average this month so far.
The team have seen a significant
rise in trauma-related incidents,
with the charity normally
experiencing a 50/50 split between
medical and trauma emergencies.
Last week, 77% of call-outs were
trauma-related, including 13 road
traffic collisions as well as falls,
they have used a broad range
of their pre-hospital emergency
care skills. From emergency
blood transfusions to performing
open chest surgery or placing a
critically ill patient on a ventilator,
the crews worked hard to improve
the chance of a positive outcome
for patients not expected to make
it to hospital alive.
GWAAC receives no day-today
funding from the NHS or
Government and relies on the
communities we serve to raise
the money needed to remain
operational. At the same time as
the demands on our emergency
response service picked up, we
re-opened our shop in Westburyon-Trym,
with the support of the
local community bringing in a
record £4,000 in sales over the
Clare, who lives in Leeds, added:
“I’m very moved to have received
such an award - we have an ethos
of One Team in YAS, which was so
visible during the pandemic and Iffa
and I wouldn’t have been able to do
our jobs if we didn’t have the support
from across the organisation.”
alone in a single day.
The crew have remained right
here and ready to respond
throughout the whole of the
COVID-19 pandemic, stepping
up to support the NHS during
the critical peak of the outbreak.
stabbings, and burns.
The crew’s specialist skills
are incredibly important as
they enable them to perform
procedures usually only found in
an operating theatre at the side of
the roadside. Over the last week,
first week – more than double
what is usually expected. The
charity is keen to say thank you
to everyone who is supporting us
in these times of high demand for
our service and reduced income
due to lack of normal fundraising
activities.
AMBULANCE UK - JUNE
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