GWAAC Impact Report 2023

We are Great Western Air Ambulance Charity

Our vision is that everyone receives the lifesaving pre-hospital emergency care they need, wherever they are, whenever they need it.

Our mission is to deliver cutting-edge pre-hospital care to everyone who needs us.

What we do

When someone has a life-threatening illness or injury, time is of the essence. They need expert help fast. This is where we come in.

Our crew of Critical Care Doctors, Advanced Practitioners, Specialist Paramedics and Pilots can be anywhere in our region in just 20 minutes. They bring lifesaving medical and surgical skills straight to the patient. The crew can perform interventions at the scene of an incident that would usually only be done in a hospital Emergency Department, bringing the care forward to where it’s needed the most.

Our values

We put people first

We behave in an ethical manner

We strive to decrease our environmental impact

We reflect on our performance and learn from others

We are inclusive and welcoming

We are grateful for the support we receive

WELCOME

As we looked towards 2023, we made a promise that we would strive to be there for everyone who needs us. We hope as you read on that you’ll see us delivering on that promise.

We achieved growth in many areas. We opened more shops, trained a record number of people in CPR and placed more defibrillators across our region. Our crew shared their knowledge with others and pushed boundaries in pre-hospital emergency medicine. Our dedicated volunteers gave much time and energy, helping to bring in record donations.

In June we celebrated the 15th anniversary of our first-ever flight, which came shortly after our joint busiest week on record, in May. Patient numbers increased and 2023 became our second busiest year; we were called to 1,979 people including more children than ever before.

We welcomed some new leaders in our clinical team, with Dr Andy Lockyer, Dr Andrew Heavyside and Tim Ross-Smith stepping up. Our thanks go to Dr Ed Valentine, Dr Richard Jeavons and Specialist Paramedic Pete Reeve for their hard work and commitment leading the team through the previous years.

Everything we achieved was only possible thanks to your unwavering support and that of the communities we serve.

We humbly ask that you remain by our side, supporting us, so we can be there for the patients of tomorrow. Let’s continue saving lives together.

Anna Perry CEO

Martyn Drake Chair of Trustees

Dr Andy Lockyer Medical Director

Tim Ross-Smith Operations Officer

Our 2023 mission stats

1,979

Number of call-outs

Saturdays were our busiest day of the week

75 motorcycle

27%

73% Helicopter: 540 Critical care car: 1,439

Response by air and road

On our busiest days we had

13 call-outs (29 Jan and 28 May)

375 hours were flown by helicopter

51 bicycle

23 equestrian

11 agricultural

We were called to over five people a day on average, some days it was many more

289 babies, children and teenagers needed our help

161 patients were given a pre-hospital emergency anaesthetic

50 patients were given emergency blood transfusions

Each mission cost over £2,000 on average

Medical emergencies 1,017 | 51%

Cardiac arrest = 503 (25%)

Neurological / Fitting = 152 (8%)

Collapse = 110 (6%)

Overdose = 56 (3%)

Other medical = 196 (10%)

Trauma incidents 962 | 49%

Road traffic collision = 377 (19%)

Fall = 200 (10%)

Stabbing = 112 (6%)

Hanging = 46 (2%)

Sporting = 24 (1%)

Burns = 23 (1%)

Other trauma = 180 (9%)

We took patients to the most appropriate hospital for their needs

Southmead Hospital = 48%

Bristol Royal Infirmary = 27%

Bristol Royal Hospital for Children = 9%

Gloucestershire Royal Hospital = 5%

Royal United Hospital Bath = 2%

Cheltenham General Hospital = 2%

Other hospitals = 7%

We often bypass the closest hospital and take patients to a Major Trauma Centre such as Southmead Hospital.

The areas we were called to

Gloucestershire

Missions – 573

% of total missions – 29%

Helicopter – 44%

Car – 56%

South Gloucestershire

Missions – 290

% of total missions – 15%

Helicopter – 10%

Car – 90%

Bristol

Missions – 537

% of total missions – 27%

Helicopter – 8%

Car – 92%

Wiltshire

Missions – 112

% of total missions – 6%

Helicopter – 43%

Car – 57%

Bath & North East Somerset

Missions – 101

% of total missions – 5%

Helicopter – 34%

Car – 66%

Other

Missions– 104

% of total missions – 5%

Helicopter – 57%

Car – 43%

North Somerset

Missions – 262

% of total missions – 13%

Helicopter – 28%

Car – 72%

Hamish’s story

Eight-year-old Hamish badly injured his arm when he jumped off a garden swing in Pill, North Somerset. He needed the help of the GWAAC crew, who quickly took off in the helicopter and just minutes later landed in a nearby playing field. They assessed Hamish’s injuries, inserted a cannula into his vein and gave him morphine to reduce his pain. Hamish was taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in a land ambulance, where he had an operation to fix his broken arm. Although Hamish had to learn a new technique for bowling in cricket, he is now back to his usual sporty self.

We couldn’t do it without you

Our specialist crew could only be there to help people in urgent medical need because of the dedication and ongoing support from our local communities.

Each year we are inspired by those who go above and beyond with their relentless fundraising, volunteering, and general support for GWAAC.

Thank you to our vital volunteers

With a very busy year of community events and more high street shops opening, we needed our wonderful volunteers more than ever.

17,129 hours donated by 240 volunteers

108 volunteers worked across our seven shops

68 Great Western Heartstarters volunteers taught 10,429 people CPR, defibrillation and emergency first aid

10 volunteers delivered 86 informative talks to community groups and businesses

11 volunteers emptied 465 collection tins, bringing in £24,950

We treated our volunteers to a special tour and talk

We held our third Volunteer Conference bringing volunteers together to learn more about our service from members of our crew and CEO, Anna Perry. Our Pilot, Captain Jim Green, gave an informative talk about Helicopter Emergency Medical Services and our Assistant Medical Director, Dr Andrew Heavyside, gave a detailed breakdown of the specialist equipment that goes out on every mission. Our volunteers also took part in an interactive session to learn how a Specialist Paramedic is recruited.

Thank you to people, groups and businesses

We had brilliant support from a range of community groups, businesses and people. Together they helped ensure that GWAAC could continue to respond by air and road, reaching those who needed us, wherever they were.

Almondsbury Gymkhana

Andrew Fletcher

Backwell Art Group

Beaufort Ladies Lunch

Bevan Brittan

Bleadon WI

Bristol Drones

Carmen Johnson and Music for Adults, Little Witley

David Windsor

Dene Magna School

Dickson Kitchens and Interiors

Dig for Victory Show

FLT Group

Forest Vintage Vehicle and Machinery Club

Frampton Country Fair

Global Vans

High Tech Fabrications Ltd

Howdens Joinery in Yate

Kier Highways

Lucy & Jon Buck

M&G Wealth

Michael Hall

National Highways

Naunton Downs Golf Club

- Seniors Section

NFU Mutual Bath

NFU Mutual Cinderford

North Gloucestershire Football League

Pilning Flower Show

Recycling Solutions

Robert Welch Design

Rotary Club of Bath

Saltford Golf Club Ladies Section

Saltford Golf Club Senior Section

Thank you to trusts and foundations

Samantha Davies

Savills

Southern Co-Op

St Monica Trust – Monica Wills

Steph Pearce

Steve and Gail Tedford

Susan Bailey and Caroline Young

Team Velocity

Tetbury Bingo Buddies and Boot Sales

The Rising Sun Woolaston

The Tufthorn Inn

Thornbury and District League of Friends

Vistair

Waggoneers MCC

Westerleigh Walkers

Will Hicks

WSP UK Ltd

We are grateful to all the trusts and foundations who supported us during 2023. Funding helped to support our mission costs, keep our clinical equipment up to date and provide kit for our crew, as well as essential training.

Special recognition goes to those funders who awarded us substantial grants in 2023 as well as to many who have supported us for a number of years.

The Adint Charitable Trust

Beacon Owl Trust

Bristol Masons’ Charity

The Carr-Gregory Trust

County Air Ambulance HELP Appeal

The David Thomas Charitable Trust

The Dulverton Trust

The Fieldrose Charitable Trust

The G C Gibson Charitable Trust

The Grace Trust

The Green Hall Foundation

Jack Lane Charitable Trust

James Tudor Foundation

John James Bristol Foundation

Air Ambulances UK (Jude Morris Innovation and Development Fund)

Langdale Trust

The Nisbet Trust

The Notgrove Trust

Schroder Charity Trust

Sumner Wilson Charitable Trust

The Thompson Charitable Trust

Thank you to local councils

We had incredible support from town and parish councils meaning we could be there for more people in their local communities.

Aust Parish Council

Backwell Parish Council

Banwell Parish Council

Bradley Stoke Town Council

Bristol City Council

Charfield Parish Council

Cinderford Town Council

Clevedon Town Council

Coleford Town Council

Dodington Parish Council

Dursley Town Council

Keynsham Town Council

Long Ashton Parish Council

Newent Town Council

Norton Malreward Parish Council

Paulton Parish Council

Pill & Easton-In-Gordano & Ham Green Parish Council

Tewkesbury Town Council

Shoscombe Parish Council

Westerleigh and Coalpit Heath Parish Council

Wotton-under-Edge Town Council

Yate Town Council

Yatton Parish Council

Thank you to the South Gloucestershire councillors who generously awarded us Member Awarded Funding.

Brian Allinson

Christine Price

Erica Williams

James Arrowsmith

John Ashe

Judy Adams

Keith Cranney

Kim Scudamore

Paul Hughes

Robert Griffin

Roger Avenin

Ruth Davis

Sarah Pomfret

We empowered others to help save lives

To give each person the best chance of survival following a cardiac arrest, they need immediate CPR and defibrillation within five minutes. We want this to start while our crew rush to the scene.

Our Great Western Hearts Programme taught a record number of people CPR and worked with many communities to place publicly accessible defibs across our region.

We’re grateful to all the funders who have supported Great Western Hearts in 2023. Special thanks to the Beacon Owl Trust for their grant towards the CPR project and to the James Tudor Foundation for their support of the Defib project.

Thank you to everyone who became a defib host:

Aldwick Wine Estate Bear & Rugged Staff

Bradley Stoke Town Council

Bristol City Council, 100 Temple Way

Bristol City Council, City Hall

Colehouse Caravan Park

Co-op Shirehampton – Kindly funded by the Lamplighter Pub

County Gates Office – Funds raised by staff from Funky Pigeon, Autoease and GWAAC

Davies and Way, Saltford

Easton Mosque (Easton Jamia Masjid)

Emma Fawcett – mobile defib

Goblin Combe Visitor Centre

GWAAC’s Gloucester Northgate Shop

GWAAC’s Yate Shop

Hunters Café (Fish & Chips)

Keynsham Town Council

Malcolm X Community Centre –Kindly funded by ALD

Our Defibrillator project raised £105,875 and helped communities install 52 new defibs

We ended the year with 71 public access defibrillators in place across our region and empowered our communities with the knowledge and confidence to use them.

We started work with a new supporter group, Donate for Defib Weston-superMare Project. They raised nearly £15,000, installed seven defibs and inspired 16 groups, businesses and organisations to raise money to fund a community defib.

The Sam Polledri Foundation hit a milestone of £70,000 raised for public access defibs. They installed eight more in 2023, taking their total to 16, and the equipment is already being used to help people in cardiac arrest.

Midsomer Norton Men’s Shed

Monarch House

Morrisons, Oakleaze Road –Kindly funded by Thornbury Rotary

Mr and Mrs Berry, Cirencester

Norton Malreward Parish Council

Pip and Jim’s Church, Leckhampton

Shoshcombe Parish Council (Apple Tree Pub)

Sommerville Club

Southmead Health Centre

St Augustine’s Church, Downend

The Masonic Pub

TOUT’S Langford

Walton in Gordano Village Hall –Kindly funded by Sue Betts in memory of her husband, Roy Westbury on Trym Village Hall

Wiper and True – Kindly funded by WSP

Funded through the Sam Polledri Foundation:

Avonmouth Old Boys RFC

Bourton Vale Cricket Club

Bristol Clifton Observatory

Brunel’s SS Great Britain

Clifton Rugby Club

St Mary’s Old Boys Rugby Football Club

The Dings RFC

The Salvation Army (Citadel Church)

Supported by Donate for Defib WsM

Project:

Big Worle Hub/Big Local

Devonshire Social Club WSM

George & Dragon Pub WSM

Sweeney Todd’s Barber Shop

The Regency Pub

Weston-super-Mare Golf Club x 2

Kindly funded by Kier and National

Highways:

Brimpsfield Village Hall, Glos

Golden Heart Pub, Glos

Green Dragon Inn

Kindly funded by the George Bairstow

Trust:

Inns Court Community & Family Centre

Wellspring Settlement

Our CPR project taught more people than ever before

Our CPR project which teaches people CPR, defibrillation and first aid, grew by almost 40% on the previous year. In 2023, our Heartstarters volunteers taught thousands of people these basic lifesaving skills.

In addition to teaching across our secondary schools and colleges, we taught community groups and corporate supporters.

We taught 10,429 people in total

9,141 people were taught CPR and defibrillation

1,288 students were taught first aid for a stabbing injury

68 volunteers gave 1,413 hours to teach in 24 secondary schools in our region:

Dick’s story

Retired policeman, Dick, was driving his van when he suffered a cardiac arrest. He crashed just fifty yards from his doctor’s surgery and staff rushed to his aid. They performed CPR and used a defibrillator while our crew landed nearby. Thanks to the actions of bystanders, Dick’s heart had been restarted, but he was unconscious and breathing irregularly. Our crew intubated him and put him on a ventilator, and got him to the Bristol Royal Infirmary. Within two hours of arrival, Dick had a stent fitted and after six months in recovery was back to his old, happy, active self.

“GWAAC played an important part in my chain of survival. They gave me drugs that the ambulance paramedics don’t carry.”

Dick, former patient

We taught in specialist education establishments and in public locations

We delivered a specially adapted basic life support skills session to 22 students at Elmfield School for Deaf Children.

“I liked being able to practise doing CPR on the dummy; it helps you to save someone’s life. I liked that one of the paramedics could communicate with us in British Sign Language.” Student, Elmfield School for Deaf Children

We trained the staff of Brunel’s SS Great Britain and ran a CPR event at the famous landmark, training over 100 members of the public in collaboration with the Sam Polledri Foundation.

We developed our crew and collaborated with other emergency services

We welcomed a new Clinical Leadership Team

In July, GWAAC Critical Care Doctors, Dr Andy Lockyer (pictured left) and Dr Andrew Heavyside (pictured right), took on the roles of Medical Director and Assistant Medical Director respectively. They are responsible for the leadership of GWAAC’s medical work. This encompasses training, governance duties and general development and organisation of the GWAAC doctor team.

“We have an incredibly talented team of people; I want to harness this as best as possible so we remain a cutting-edge critical care service, with all the latest developments that we can provide.”

Dr Andy Lockyer, Medical Director

We welcomed Tim Ross-Smith as our new Operations Officer in October. Tim was previously Operations Officer at South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust so arrived at GWAAC with a wealth of experience. He is now responsible for line managing our team of Specialist Paramedics and Advanced Practitioners in Critical Care.

“Having worked alongside the team at critical incidents, it was the team ethos and the way they worked together that impressed me.”

Tim Ross-Smith, Operations Officer

Rich MacLaughlin came back to GWAAC

In July, we welcomed Pilot, Rich MacLaughlin, back to GWAAC. Rich spent 16 years as a pilot in the Royal Navy before entering Helicopter Emergency Medical Services. He first joined GWAAC in 2014 and spent six years as one of our base pilots before leaving to work as a touring pilot. Rich said, “Coming back, feels like coming home.”

We upskilled ambulance crews through our Clinical Outreach Programme

Four Specialist Paramedics in Critical Care provided training to ambulance crews working in the GWAAC operational area. They delivered four workshops upskilling paramedics and giving them essential skills around critical care. The project aims to achieve earlier and more accurate requests for assistance from our Critical Care Team and improve care for the patient before our crew arrive. These improvements lead to shorter on-scene times, reducing time to hospital, all of which contribute to better patient outcomes.

Across the four sessions undertaken, around 80 participants were taught theory and participated in simulations which included dealing with traumatic cardiac arrest, penetrating torso injuries, fracture management and paediatric resuscitation, using the Major Trauma and Resus Advice line and preparing for Pre-Hospital Emergency Anaesthesia.

“It’s nice to be in an environment and work on simulations where we can ask questions of the Critical Care Team. I now have a better idea of what they bring to the table.”

Zara Macleod,

3rd year UWE student paramedic

We signed off a Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM) trainee and welcomed another

In June, Dr Nicky Moore completed his PHEM training and became a signed off Critical Care Doctor. Shortly after in August, we welcomed Dr Mark Winstanley as our newest PHEM trainee.

“Getting exposure to a wide and inclusive team and learning things from different people have been the best things about working at GWAAC so far.”

Dr Mark Winstanley, PHEM trainee

SPCCs, Fleur Rath and Pete Reeve, gained a Master’s degree in Emergency and Resuscitation Medicine at Queen Mary University of London.

SPCC, Matt Robinson, obtained his MSc in Advanced Practice from the University of the West of England.

We worked in partnership with local organisations

Blend 65 with Wogan Coffee

We collaborated with Wogan Coffee in Bristol to create a unique blend, named Blend 65. Following its launch in spring, our supporters (and crew) purchased 123kg of the beautiful beans and GWAAC received a 10% donation for every purchase. Sales of Blend 65 funded approximately three days’ worth of aviation fuel.

Heli Laughs with local sponsors

Our annual flagship fundraising comedy night, Heli Laughs, was a sell-out event and our biggest yet. More than 530 people from across our region travelled to the iconic Bristol Old Vic to laugh together for their local lifesavers and raised over £16,000 in total.

We were proud to work with local and national comedians as well as local companies without whom we couldn’t have put on this event.

Thanks to our sponsors, Vistair (Gold Sponsor), Global Vans (Silver Sponsor), Craddys (Bronze Sponsor) and Stagecoach (Comedy Sponsor) for their support. Thanks also to local comedians Stuart Goldsmith, Dani Johns and Julia Stenton and to those who travelled to Bristol to be part of the night: Steve Bugeja, Abi Carter-Simpson, Ignacio Lopez and the wonderful Mike Wozniak.

A beneficiary at Bath Rotary Festival of Motoring

We were chosen as a beneficiary at Bath Rotary Festival of Motoring 2023. Staff, volunteers and crew members joined classic car exhibitors, musicians and traders at the festival, which took place in June at Walcot Rugby Club, Lansdown. Local support from businesses, excellent coordination and good public attendance resulted in a bumper year with the festival’s donation to GWAAC reaching a record breaking £14,000!

Fundraiser spotlights

The Phoenix Bar in Portishead

The Phoenix Bar has been supporting GWAAC through raffles, collection tins, fundraising events and more for many years. Their total raised reached an outstanding milestone of £10,000 in 2023.

A huge thank you to Tam, Dawn, Monica, Sam and all The Phoenix Bar customers. Their fundraising journey has honoured the memory of a cherished family member whilst demonstrating the power of collective action, showing how every contribution, no matter how small, can lead to a substantial impact over time.

WSP Bristol

Staff from WSP Bristol raised money from bake sales and virtual challenges, they donated goods to our shops, funded a laptop for our crew and helped fund a public access defib for the community of Old Market in Bristol. We thank the staff for their engagement and breadth of support which will inspire other local businesses to do similarly.

Yate and Chipping Sodbury Good Afternoon Choir

The Yate and Chipping Sodbury Good Afternoon Choir have filled local halls and our hearts with music since 2022. They have raised over £5,000 through their concerts and we thank them for singing beautifully at our Forever Flying event in November, in memory of lost loved ones.

Tetbury Bingo Buddies and Boot Sales

In 2023, Tetbury Bingo Buddies and Boot Sales reached a truly remarkable milestone of £60,000 fundraised through eight years of unwavering support. Led by Marion and Val, they battle all weathers at Tetbury Market House to support us and do so much more too. We cannot thank them enough for their extraordinary effort.

We

took steps to reduce our impact on the

environment

We take our responsibility to protect the environment seriously and we’ve set ourselves a target to be carbon neutral by 2030. We recognise that this is challenging due to the nature of our service, but we worked hard in 2023 to take steps to achieve this.

We reviewed our energy use

A specialist company audited our energy use at our airbase and we are implementing the recommendations. We started working with Bristol Energy Cooperative on plans to cover the airbase roof in solar panels.

We offered lifesaving recycling schemes

As well as offering recycling schemes for ink cartridges, stamps and electronics we provided facilities for extensive recycling at all our sites. Through our partnership with Recycling Solutions, our 62 clothing and textile recycling banks collected 231 tonnes of clothing from generous supporters, raising £58,608 and helping to offset our environmental impact.

Travel and transport

We became the first not-for-profit to achieve Gold in the Cycling Friendly evaluation by Cycling UK due to our extensive work encouraging cycling to and for work, including cycle to work events and a bike ‘health check’.

We added an extra pool vehicle and an electric bike to our charity fleet to aid car sharing and reduce the need for staff to drive to work.

We continued conversations with our helicopter operator, Babcock, and organisations such as Vertical Aerospace to consider options for transitioning to electric or hybrid flight.

We opened three extra shops and boosted re-use and recycling

As well as raising much needed awareness by increasing our presence in local towns and cities, our shops saved thousands of tonnes of goods from ending up in landfill.

Gloucester, March

Just down the road from our store on Gloucester high street, we opened a larger shop which also acts as a GWAAC community hub for the city.

Cinderford, December

Situated on the eastern fringe of the Forest of Dean, our new shop in Cinderford boasted the highest ‘first-day takings’ among our three 2023 openings.

Thornbury, December

Our third shop of 2023, and seventh in our retail portfolio, opened in the heart of Thornbury. Members of our Critical Care Team marked the shop opening with the ribbon cutting.

We responded to almost three quarters of incidents by road

As well as our helicopter, we have a fleet of three critical care cars that we use to reach patients across our region, and in 2023 they were used for 73% of our missions.

After 19:00 we only operate by car as it’s usually as effective as the helicopter due to reduced traffic on the roads coupled with restrictions on flying our helicopter in the hours of darkness.

Our cars carry the same specialist lifesaving equipment as our helicopter, including ventilators and advanced drugs, and our crew perform the same lifesaving medical interventions at the scene. They can travel with the patient to hospital in a land ambulance, continuing to provide critical care on the journey.

Josh’s story

Josh, a fit and healthy 34-year-old, suffered a severe brain haemorrhage at his gym in Bristol. SPCC, Matt Robinson, and Critical Care Doctor, Glyn Thomas, rushed to him in one of our critical care cars. They found Josh being managed by an ambulance crew and two off-duty doctors. Matt said, “The priority was to secure his airway and rest his brain to minimise the impact of the injury.” The crew anaesthetised and intubated Josh, prepared him for his journey to hospital and travelled with him in the ambulance to continue his specialist care. Six months and several operations later, Josh is well-recovered and leading a normal life with a few adjustments.

“The speed at which everything happened from all the different points of care, is why I’m here today.”

Josh, former patient

Our finances

We were recognised for our achievements

The King’s Ambulance Service Medal

Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Critical Care, Vicki Brown, received this award in the New Year Honours for distinguished service marked by exceptional ability, merit and conduct.

“Vicki has dedicated her career to advancing paramedic practice and delivering improved pre-hospital patient care. She remains an example to all, acting as a superb role model and inspirational frontline clinical leader.”

Phil Cowburn MBE, Critical Care Doctor

Smiley Charity Film Awards –Silver People’s Choice Award

People across the country voted for our short film, telling the story of former patient, Jasmine, to win an award. Jasmine’s proud mum said at the ceremony, “I get to go home and give my daughter a kiss and cuddle tonight because of GWAAC. Tonight was inspirational.”

Air Ambulances UK Awards of Excellence

Supporter of the Year – winner

The Polledri family and Lisa Mazzotta, our Great Western Hearts Ambassadors, were winners for raising over £70,000 and installing 16 public access defibrillators in and around Bristol, through the Sam Polledri Foundation. At least two of the defibrillators have already been used on people in cardiac arrest.

Find out more about the Sam Polledri Foundation at www.gwaac.com/sam

Special Incident of the Year – shortlisted

Our crew was recognised alongside Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance for working collaboratively at the scene of a multi-patient road traffic collision.

Trustee of the Year – shortlisted

Robin Jaques, GWAAC Trustee, volunteer and former patient, was celebrated for his work as a board member, and for the time and effort he puts in to fundraising and volunteering for GWAAC.

Honorary Fellowship with Gloucestershire University

In November, Critical Care Doctor, Phil Cowburn MBE, received an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his career in emergency medicine and for contributing to the university’s Paramedic Science programme.

Training, education and research

Multi-agency training

In May, GWAAC and Avon Fire & Rescue Service hosted a multi-agency training day at Avonmouth Docks with more than 40 attendees. GWAAC crew members, firefighters, student paramedics from the University of the West of England and paramedics from South Western Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response Team took part in three simulations. Each simulation presented an initial critical problem and ongoing changing circumstances that they worked through and learnt from. The day helped build relationships, prepare for real-life scenarios and develop the paramedics of the future.

“It’s been good seeing how the different services take leadership of different aspects of the simulations. It’s important to know how we all work so we can come together in real-life incidents.”

Callum, Firefighter, White Watch, Avon Fire & Rescue Service

Sharing knowledge with student paramedics

In June, four crew members including Advanced Practitioner, Vicki Brown, joined the University of the West of England for its Distinguished Address Series. Vicki addressed an audience of around 100 student paramedics and GWAAC supporters, sharing her journey into paramedicine and how she is pushing boundaries within the profession. A Q&A session chaired by GWAAC Doctor, Professor Jonathan Benger CBE, gave attendees a chance to ask the crew questions about how to pursue a career in paramedicine in Helicopter Emergency Medical Services.

Our crew participated in the Paramedic-3 Research Study

Several of our Specialist Paramedics recruited patients to a randomised trial regarding the first line of drug intervention for adult patients who sustain an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The study aims to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of intraosseousfirst strategy versus an intravenous-first strategy in treatment.

We took our experience overseas

Crew returned to Ukraine to teach military and police

In February, Specialist Paramedics in Critical Care, Pete Reeve, Matt Robinson and Callum Sutton, returned to Ukraine as volunteers teaching first responder care to 200 military and police. With funding from a generous private source and the support of GWAAC, they donated medical equipment and delivered hands-on practical training over four days, covering themes such as bleed control, using tourniquets, CPR and the triage process.

Throughout 2023, our crew helped improve patient care and drive clinical practice across the world. The skills and expertise developed at GWAAC made a difference globally by empowering international healthcare teams to enhance care in their local communities including to victims of conflict.

In September, Specialist Paramedic, James Yates, gave a keynote address and hosted an advanced airway management masterclass at the Australasian College of Paramedicine International Conference in Melbourne.

“The opportunity to share learning with overseas colleagues and discuss alternative models of healthcare delivery is hugely valuable.”

James Yates, Specialist Paramedic in Critical Care

We refreshed the skills of search and rescue teams in Norway

In May, Dr Andy Holdstock and Specialist Paramedics, Callum Sutton and Jack Kilminster, taught airway management skills to search and rescue nurses and paramedics in Norway. Across two days they ran medical and trauma simulations to refresh their skills when dealing with challenging incidents.

“This trip was a fantastic opportunity to help educate some great clinicians. I also learned from the candidates and instructors… it was great to network with colleagues from a different system; learning from both sides will benefit patients treated in Norway and by GWAAC.”

Callum Sutton, Specialist Paramedic in Critical Care

We implemented new clinical innovations and techniques

We started participation in the Whole Blood Trial

In October, we joined a multi-year nationwide clinical study alongside nine other air ambulance charities, to look at whether giving whole blood to a major trauma patient improves their chances of survival compared to the current method of using separate blood products (red blood cells and plasma).

Carrying separate blood products means storing them in different treatment bags, keeping them at a certain temperature and administering them separately. This can add time and complexity as well as significant weight to the equipment the crew needs to carry.

Our exposure to a large number of people who experience severe traumatic injuries provided an opportunity to assess the benefits of the new whole blood product.

Testing operational hours

We trialled amending our shift times to finish at 02:00, providing an hour of additional cover overnight but an hour less of double shifts during the day. Evaluation of the impact showed very limited benefit to patients due to the small numbers overnight compared to during the day, but a large negative impact on crew wellbeing so operational hours are being reviewed further.

We brought our new operational kit bags into service

In April, our new bespoke kit bags were put into use. They were custom-made to contain a series of pouches with everything required for a task in one place and in likely order of necessity. They made an immediate difference to our efficiency at the scene of an incident and restocking in between jobs.

We introduced five sets of kit bags: one for each of our three critical care cars, one for the helicopter and one for training purposes.

“The new bags are speeding up processes, especially setting up kit for Pre-Hospital Emergency Anaesthesia (PHEA); they are helping to improve the care we provide to people in our communities in urgent need of our help.”

Vicki Brown, Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Critical Care

We revamped our PHEA checklist

To improve safety for our patients, our crew perform a checklist before and after every Pre-Hospital Emergency Anaesthetic (PHEA) to ensure they have all the equipment they require and are prepared for complications that could occur. We revamped this checklist to make it more specific to the new equipment, adopting a format based on NASA research.

LOOKING FORWARD

During 2024, we plan to: Our long-term aspirations are to:

• Open several new charity shops, helping us to generate sustainable income in a way that is both environmentally friendly and supports local communities

• Expand our defibrillator programme, placing 80 new defibs across our region

• Continue creating a generation of lifesavers by training 10,000 people in CPR

• Run a Clinical Symposium and build on our outreach work, including levelling the playing field to enable people from unrepresented groups to access PHEM training

• Continue work to generate sustainable income from environmentally friendly uses of our site at Almondsbury

• Review our operating hours so we can be there for more people, whenever they need us

• Improve the environmental sustainability of our buildings

• Explore options to increase collaboration with other organisations working in our sector

• Provide a 24/7 service

• Formalise the working arrangements of doctors

• Create a centre where supporters, volunteers, staff and crew can meet, learn, relax, work and raise the vital funds we need

• Develop a patient liaison service

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We need your support, now more than ever. Without you, our crew would not be there. Together, we save local lives.

How to help

Set up a regular gift

Any donation helps our Critical Care Team respond to those in urgent need. By choosing to give a monthly donation, you’ll be helping us plan ahead for long-term improvements.

Leave a gift in your will

Once you have remembered your loved ones, you can choose to support us well into the future by leaving a gift in your will. If you want to find out more visit www.gwaac.com/gifts-in-wills or contact us at info@gwaac.com

Thank you

Please share your copy of our Impact Report with others to help raise awareness in our local area.

0303 4444 999 info@gwaac.com

www.gwaac.com

@GWAAC

@GWAAC

Great Western Air Ambulance Charity

Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, 3rd Floor, County Gates, Ashton Road, Bristol BS3 2JH

Registered charity number 1121300

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