Ambulance UK August 2021

NEWSLINE
LAS
Cardiac arrest
survivor thanks
“humble heroes” for
saving his life
A 54-year-old man whose
heart stopped beating for 21
minutes has thanked London
Ambulance Service staff that
helped save his life.
Nicolas De Santis, a tech
entrepreneur, was working at
home in his study when he started
to feel slight discomfort in his
chest which he brushed off as an
infection or bad cold.
Fortunately for Nicolas his
daughter, Alaia, 22, was also at
home that day in December 2019,
and had gone to check on him
before they went out to dinner
when he collapsed in front of her.
She immediately dialled 999
and followed the advice from
London Ambulance Service call
handler, Elliott, who began to talk
Alaia through cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR).
She said: “When I saw my dad
collapse, I knew something severe
had happened to him. I had never
learnt CPR before, but, I knew I
had to act quickly as he was not
breathing. The call handler kept
me calm and helped talk me
through what to do.”
As Alaia continued to give chest
compressions to her father,
medics Kirsty, Junaid, John and
Vijay arrived.
Junaid, an Advanced Paramedic
for London Ambulance Service,
recalled that day: “21 minutes is
a very long time for someone’s
heart to stop beating. Every
second counts when a person is
in cardiac arrest and good chest
compressions – like those Alaia
gave – helps to resupply the heart
and brain with vital oxygen.
“Alaia’s quick actions that day
truly saved her father’s life.”
After the medics helped to
stabilise Nicolas, they rushed
him to hospital where he was put
in an induced coma. He spent a
month recovering in an intensive
care unit. The doctors said he had
suffered a cardiac arrest because
of a blocked coronary artery.
Nicolas, who lives in Mayfair with
his wife, Melissa Odabash, and his
two daughters, Alaia and Avalon,
18, says the incident has made
him see the world a little differently.
“I left this life for 21 minutes. I realise
how lucky I am to be alive, and life
really is much more beautiful than it
was before. The way I see it I came
back to understand how precious
life really is,” he said.
Recently Nicolas visited London
Ambulance Service’s HQ to meet
the staff there that helped to save
his life that day.
He said: “It has been so important
for me to be able to thank them.
Without them I’m not sure I would
have survived. I call them my
‘humble heroes’, because they
really are heroes and so humble.”
Since recovering Nicolas wants to
raise awareness of the importance
of cardiac health and learning
lifesaving skills such as CPR.
He said: “I’m a 54-year-old
man, fairly fit, play football every
weekend and look after myself
with a healthy diet. I never thought
anything like this could happen to
me. It is totally unpredictable.
“And that’s the point, you never
know who it could happen to
or when, so that’s why it’s so
important to learn these skills. As
sadly, you’re much more likely to
have to save someone close to
you – a friend or family member.”
Not only has Nicolas thanked
the ambulance service for saving
his life, he says he is indebted to
his daughter: “I have said to her,
whatever she wants, she can have!
“I can’t thank everyone enough
for giving me another chance at
life and the opportunity to see my
daughters grow up, get married
and graduate. I am so grateful to
everyone that day.”
Nearly 90% of patient transport users rate quality measures and booking reminders as important
AMBULANCE UK - AUGUST
Non-emergency patient transport users believe it is important for
providers to have good quality measures and notify them when their
transport will pick them up.
A research poll conducted by national health and social care transport
provider ERS Medical has found that patients who use a transport
service to and from hospital appointments have rated several quality
measures and booking reminders as important service aspects.
87% of respondents said the following quality measures were
“extremely important” or “important” with a further 7% of respondents
saying they are “somewhat important”:
• Friendliness and experience of the provider and crews;
• Cleanliness and age of vehicles;
• Appointment reminders;
• A caring approach
Additionally, a significant 99% of poll respondents said it was
important to know when the patient transport service would pick
them up for their appointment.
Andrew Pooley, Managing Director at ERS Medical, comments:
“Although every contract has different KPIs for “journeys on time” - as
an example, in our largest contract area, over 97% of our journeys
are on time. However, we know there are inevitable delays in a busy
healthcare environment with many moving components making up the
entire system of patient flow. Effective communication with patients is
imperative to let them know when their transport is due to arrive.
They would also like the reassurance that their provider is a good
quality and reliable one, whether this is reflected in the calibre of crews,
the provider’s caring approach or via the condition of vehicles. These
aren’t ground-breaking findings for the industry, but these poll results
echo what we all have assumed for many years. It’s our collective
responsibility to continue to deliver it.”
ERS Medical conducts over 600,000 patient journeys per annum. In the
last year, on-board ambulance patient feedback surveys (either completed
during or after the journey and sent back to ERS Medical) show that
over 94% of the patients transported by ERS Medical were “extremely
likely” or “likely” to recommend their service to friends and family.
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