Working Together - February + March 2014

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Caring | Team work | Professionalism | Innovation

AT THE HART OF IT FEB+MAR/14

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HART RESPOND TO FLOODS

REAL LIFE

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AIR AMBULANCE CARRIES STATE OF THE ART KIT

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LIFESAVING TECHNOLOGY: AEDS > PATIENT STORY

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REAL LIFE

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TAKE OUT THE GUESSWORK WITH 111 > PATIENT STORY

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WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT US

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REA L LIFE

COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS - SAVING LIVES

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PLANTING THE NHS FOREST

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AT THE HART OF IT

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COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS SAVING LIVES On the 10 December 2013 a 999 call was made for an ambulance to attend a collapsed 23 year old male. RAF Co-Responders Gareth Jones and Graham Jones and Burghfield CFR (Community First Responder) David Gregory were dispatched to assist. Gareth and Graham have kindly accounted their actions of the day as follows: “After signing on we were travelling north up the A33 heading towards Reading, we were tasked on job 0930 at the golf club in Mortimer at 14:30pm. We were updated by the EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) en-route that the patient was unresponsive with agonal breathing and we arrived first on scene at 14:35.

“On arrival the patient was lying on his back 30 yards in front of us on the golf driving range. Graham was first on scene, patient was unresponsive, pale with no bystander Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in progress.

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Graham instantly commenced basic life support (BLS), whilst I attached the automated external defibrillator (AED) pads onto his chest.

“The AED assessed the rhythm and delivered its first shock at 14:36, BLS was then recommenced during which the patient started to make some gurgling noises.

“At this point David Gregory (Burghfield CFR) turned up, he was briefed and started to help by gathering information from bystanders. At 14:38 the patient was shocked for a second time and BLS was recommenced at the 6 minute mark no shock was advised and the patient had Return Of Spontaneous Circulation at 14:40.

“At this point Bracknell crew Cath Cox and Lee Sachse arrived, with the patient now in the recovery position we handed over to Lee who took over the management of the incident.

FEB+MAR/14

REA L LIFE “Within the next minute or so Helimed 24 landed and the doctor quickly assessed the situation and decided to do a Rapid Sequence Induction on the patient who once sedated and airway secured was transported to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford”.

The patient Mark Nelson, was in hospital for 10 days during which time he had both a pacemaker and an internal defibrillator (ICD) fitted.

Mark was discharged from hospital just prior to Christmas and he is recovering well at home.

On the 14th February the co responders and community responders plus officers from the indirect resources dept and Andy Colledge (HEMS Paramedic) met up once again with Mark to see how he was getting on.

David Hamer West Berkshire Community Responder Training Officer commented: “This is an excellent outcome from what was a dire medical emergency, the links in the chain of survival all came together just like the links in the service levels we provide did.

Mark received rapid intervention from basic life support through to advanced invasive therapy. Everyone that played a role in this incident deserves recognition and it highlights that we really do have a brilliant dedicated team of both staff and volunteers.”

(L-R) Andy Colledge (HEMS Paramedic), Cpl Gareth Jones (Co-Responder), Mark Nelson (Patient), Sgt Graham Jones (Co-Responder) and David Gregory (CFR)

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GROWING GREEN SCAS CONTINUE TO PLANT THE NHS FOREST 6

FEB+MAR/14

Last issue, you might remember us talking about how we have started planting our contribution to the NHS Forest project, planting trees at Ambulance stations across the region. Coordinated by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, the project has a number of aims, including ‘greening’ the NHS Estate by planting 1 tree per employee. That’s a whopping 1.3million trees, so it’s a massive task, but everyone has the chance to get involved.

Three more SCAS sites are now boasting new trees, and you can see colleagues taking part in the second round of planting here. Our final site this time around will be the new North Harbour Resource Centre in Portsmouth, where we will be planting four new trees – one to represent each of the four stations that are moving into the new centre.

Our Green Team Champions continue to lead the charge, but anyone can get involved in the NHS Forest, so if you are interested contact our Green Team Coordinator Brian Miller.

And if you would like to add a tree to any SCAS locations in the NHS Forest, simply click the button, and select ‘South Central Ambulance Service’ from the list of available locations, then pop your chosen station into the comments field at the checkout. We can then make sure your tree is planted at the right location.

SPONSOR

A TREE CLICK HERE

Thank you for your support.

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AT THE HART OF IT MICHELLE ARCHER SCAS Communications Manager Michelle Archer recently had the opportunity of spending a shift with the SCAS Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), here is part 1 of her story.

The shift was to commence at 7am and to say I was a little anxious / nervous / excited was an understatement. I have been with the service for nearly 10 years and have only ever been out observing on a whole shift when I first started back in 2004, a shift that was eye opening but not without travel sickness!

I have attended a few other incidents with colleagues in the past, an unplanned emergency drive through the streets of a town to a poorly child and another to an RTC (road traffic collision) on a major road involving a coach, but this is something that would be a new experience for me. A chance to see staff at work and the specialist training of the HART team.

Arriving at 6.45am I was greeted by the team that had been on overnight who told me of their trip out to the forest where a car was stuck in flood water in another county assisting the South Western Ambulance Service. Between 0645-0700 and 1845-1900 the team have a briefing, which follows a standard format and covers any immediate issues which may need the attention of the oncoming team. This includes changes in weather, the UK threat level and pre planned operations which may be occurring during the shift.

It was then time to catch up with Jack, the Team Leader that I would be accompanying.

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Jack would be leading the team for HART today and would liaise with the commanders at the incidents we attend. Today I would be travelling with Rich on the Landrover Discovery, a vehicle designed for a variety of situations. Despite the heavy winds and driving rain we’d been having I was hoping for the weather to be dry. Part of my job today would be taking a few photos of the incidents we attend and the rain wouldn’t be great for that purpose, but I was ready with a carrier bag with a hole in the end to protect my camera should it rain!

On with the day. HART are ambulance staff with additional skills and equipment to tackle certain situations. With that capability there is a lot of personal equipment, a suit for every occasion – it’s like a scene from Mr Ben, in addition to that there is a variety of equipment that all needs to be checked before we head out for our first job. It’s suggested I need a life jacket…really…a life jacket, where am I going to??!! The other Richard, ‘Dickie’ ran me through how to put it on…seems simple enough, but I’d like to think / hope that I won’t need it!

Ok, that’s it, we’re ready to go and waiting for the first call. Just a little bit of time passes, enough time for me to channel my inner journalist and proceed to bombard Rich with a heap of questions about him, his journey to Paramedic and to SCAS and onto his role in HART. Relatively unfazed by my questions the radio goes and we’re off to our first job.

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The job comes in as a vehicle that had gone through a barrier and down a slope. Jumping into the car we get on the road with our blue lights and sirens on. It’s raining and it’s rush hour and the amount of cars on the road means that our journey is a little slower than it would sometimes be.

As we’re en route Rich talks me through what we might expect when we get there.

This incident might need their specialist knowledge and equipment for working at height. The cars are parting quite easily and in the most part everyone sees us coming and moves allowing us to pass. As the first two vehicles ease their way through the traffic, our path is blocked by someone who hasn’t noticed that we are also making our way through the traffic. Rich tells me that some people will not check to see whether another emergency vehicle is coming once the first one has passed. We arrive on scene and join Claire and new member of staff Westley (this is his first ever job) on the Rapid Response Vehicle who quickly brief Jack on what’s happened so far.

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Jack briefs the rest of the HART team and Dave is off down the slope to see how the patient is doing whilst the rest of the team get out the equipment we are going to need.

Miraculously despite the scene that is in front of us the patient is not seriously injured. Team Leader, Chrissy arrives and works alongside Jack to manage the scene. Working with the fire service who have stabilised the vehicle, HART are able to ease the patient out of the car using an extrication vest and a specialist stretcher that can be attached to rope systems and with the combined efforts of ambulance staff and fire officers the patient is safely brought to the top of the slope to the waiting ambulance crew.

Lydia and Kate have arrived on scene in an ambulance and will be accompanied by Dave who will be taking the patient to hospital to get checked out. The patient is safely en route to hospital and it’s time for a quick de-brief with the team from the fire service and time to pack up the kit and get on our way, ready for the next incident.

d e u n i t n o c e b o T

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Read more about Michelle’s day with the HART team in the next issue of Working Together

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SCAS TO PROVIDE NATIONAL PANDEMIC FLU SERVICE The National Pandemic Flu Service, which NHS Direct launched in 2009 in response to an outbreak of swine flu, is currently transferring to SCAS. The purpose of the service is to enable antivirals to be distributed in a controlled and consistent manner to symptomatic individuals during an influenza pandemic. The service is run on behalf of the Department of Health across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It provides telephone and web-based channels that allows the assessment of symptoms using a clinical algorithm, and provides authorisation for antivirals if appropriate.

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Two members of staff who have been managing the service at NHS Direct are planned to join us in March following TUPE consultation. Their role requires them to work remotely but will be spending time at our HQ from time to time.

The service is designed to normally reside in a dormant state, but in the event a new pandemic flu outbreak, the service will be mobilised separately to our current emergency planning procedures.

If you have any questions about this service, please email John.Nichols@scas.nhs.uk

FEB+MAR/14

BRANSGORE COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS SUPPORTED BY MASONIC GRAND CHARITY Bransgore Community First Responders received a cheque recently from the Tom Langton Fund of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Masonic Grand Charity.

A cheque for £400 was handed over by the Elizabethan Lodge Charity Steward Ken Sanders to Mike Jukes, the Responders Coordinator to assist in keeping their 4X4 vehicle equipped with the necessary life saving equipment.

Group spokesperson Mike Jukes said, ”Freemasons do superb work in supporting charitable causes and their Freemasons’ Grand Charity has donated over £100 million to charities, disaster relief funds and hospice services over the last 30 years. The £400 they have kindly awarded us will go on the equipment we use on the 4X4. This will include the latest in defibrillators to replace one we have which is reaching the end of its life, and some new Airwave communication devices so that the ambulance control can track where we are and despatch us to 999 calls more effectively. We are extremely grateful to the

Tom Langton Fund and the Elizabethan Lodge who made the arrangements for us to receive this donation. We rely on our community for funds and thankfully with their support and groups such as the Masons and others, we will receive enough to keep operating.”

Elizabethan Lodge Charity Steward Ken Sanders said, “In addition to its donations to Masonic charities the Elizabethan Lodge donates to 10 local charities each year. We are happy very happy to be supporting the Bransgore Community First Responders”.

Anyone interested in becoming a Community First Responder in Bransgore, Burley, Ringwood or elsewhere in Hampshire can call 0844 500 9699 or visit the group website at www.bransgorecommunityresponders.org.uk

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REA L LIFE

TAKE OUT THE GUESSWORK WITH NHS 111 /PATIENT STORY 14

FEB+MAR/14 Usually when something unexpected happens and you, a friend or family member, are in pain it can be a ‘default’ to head to the local A&E. Luckily in this instance when it struck Mary Purnell’s family at 1am, she had the presence of mind to remember to call 111.

Mary lives with her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend Dan and it was at 1am in early January when Dan work up in excruciating knee pain. It had happened once before a few months earlier and that time, the severe spasm had been equally painful but soon eased. This time, however, it was different.

“It was probably more painful this time and was lasting much longer”, says Mary. “It was time to get some help. There was no way Dan could be transported to A&E so I immediately suggested my daughter call 111. I was aware of the 111 service through my work and it seemed to me to be the best thing to do.”

The NHS 111 service is designed for anyone who needs urgent medical help that is not a 999 (i.e. life-threatening) emergency. Mary’s daughter made the initial call and then passed the phone on to Dan to explain exactly what was happening to him. The call handler soon realised that due to Dan’s incredible pain and immobility, it was not going to be possible for him or a family member to get him to a medical centre and so a paramedic was despatched.

Mary picks up the story: “I told Dan to prepare for a long wait – thinking that just like an A&E department, there would more urgent cases ahead of him. But the paramedic arrived in 15 minutes! He gave Dan some gas and air, established a really good rapport with him in difficult circumstances and stayed with him until the seizure began to ease. He explained exactly what he was doing at every stage and made sure Dan knew it was important to make an urgent GP appointment to start investigating what was making the knee seize up.”

IN MANY WAYS, MARY FEELS DIALLING 111 WAS A BETTER DECISION THAN GOING TO THE LOCAL A&E. “If we had turned up at A&E, we could have waited there for two, three maybe even four hours. After all, they are there to treat life-threatening emergencies first and everything else – however painful it might seem – comes second.”

Mary found using NHS 111 easy, with a professional and knowledgeable person on the other end of the line who treated Dan as an individual and was able to get urgent, necessary help to him without him having to leave home.

“The thing that I’ll take away from this, is that 111 is a gateway into ALL the NHS services and takes away the decision from the patient as to what, if any, is the best service to choose. We couldn’t have asked for a better, more professional and straightforward service. I would recommend 111 to anyone and have done so since!”

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THAMES VALLEY AND CHILTERN AIR AMBULANCE FIRST TO CARRY STATE OF THE ART i-STAT MACHINE

SCAS Paramedic Clive Stevens, HEMS Consultant Dr Syed Masud and SCAS Paramedic Richard Company.

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FEB+MAR/14

In a year that has seen the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance ‘raise the bar’ in terms of clinical excellence, new developments at TVACAA have enabled the Trust to further their promise of enhanced patient care by becoming the first Air Ambulance to carry an i-Stat (portable blood analyser) machine on board the helicopter.

Dr Syed Masud, HEMS Consultant for TVACAA, said: “Over the past year we have talked about the advantages of the Paramedic Physician Partnership and the significant advantages of this is in the delivery of ‘gold standard care’ on the roadside. Our mantras is ‘bringing the hospital to the roadside’ for the patient. We have achieved this by introducing Ultrasound and Blood on the aircraft ensuring that the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance is one of the leading HEMS units in the country.

“We are the charity making yet another ground-breaking step forward by being the first Air Ambulance in the country to introduce an i-Stat machine on the aircraft. This small portable machine gives us hospital accuracy blood results within minutes. The result of this will help us make clinical decisions for the patients, for example, information on the oxygenation, degree of hypoxia and blood salts will allow us to focus treatment and give exceptionally accurate information to the hospital on arrival”.

“THIS TYPE OF PRACTICE ONCE AGAIN STEPS UP THE LEVEL OF ADVANCED CARE THAT TVACAA DELIVERS TO ITS PATIENTS.” Mark McGeown, Chief Executive Officer for TVACAA, said: “We have seen an increased demand for emergency air ambulance intervention in the past year, which is very much testament to the quality of medical care the HEMS crew can provide. We are again indebted to the charitable support of our local communities which has again helped us to facilitate state of the art medical equipment aboard the helicopter, further improving patient recovery.”

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L A E R E F I L

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AUTOMATED

EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR

SIMPLE

LIFESAVING TECHNOLOGY

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Andrew Papalexis from Chandlers Ford in Hampshire was looking forward last August to a holiday to Cyprus.

Having already packed and with time on his hands before having to head to the airport, he decided to pop along to his local gym for one last exercise session before heading off for some R&R. Arriving at the Spirit Health Club in Eastleigh where he is a member, he started his usual 40 minute routine with 20 minutes on a cross trainer.

Andrew takes up the story: “I tend to go to the gym most days so I know the staff there well and on this occasion I remember it being quite quiet – maybe only 2 or 3 other people there – and so I got straight on the cross trainer and did my usual 20 minutes or so. I then finished, went to get a wipe to wipe down the machine for the next person, picked up my water bottle and remember suddenly feeling really, really dizzy – and that’s it.

The rest is a blank until I came to in the ambulance.”

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Unbeknownst to Andrew at the time, he had suffered a cardiac arrest – shortly after finishing on the cross trainer his heart completely stopped and he collapsed.

Another member at the club, on seeing Andrew’s collapse, immediately alerted staff.

Jonathan Eggett is the manager at the gym and explains what happened next: “A member came across and told me that someone had fainted. When I went over it was pretty apparent that he had suffered some form of cardiac arrest.

Fortunately we have a defibrillator onsite.”

The gym’s defibrillator, or AED (Automatic External Defibrillator), had only been installed six weeks previously and it was only in the last fortnight before Andrew’s collapse that all staff had been fully trained in its use.

With only a 2% survival rate in the UK amongst all people suffering a sudden cardiac arrest outside of a healthcare environment, the AED at the gym proved to be a lifesaving installation for Andrew.

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IT WAS QUITE LITERALLY A GODSEND. I DON’T THINK I’D BE HERE TODAY WITHOUT IT “It was quite literally a Godsend”, says Andrew. “I don’t think I’d be here today without it. I have since found out that I was shocked by the defib once and that got my heart going again. As I was gathering my thoughts and coming to in the ambulance, I did remember hearing Jonathan’s voice calling my name though I don’t really remember anything else about my resuscitation.

Once I was conscious the ambulance driver asked how I was feeling. I think I remember apologising to him and his colleague who was busy stabilising me for the hassle and asking would it take long as I had a plane to catch!”

Unfortunately, Andrew’s cardiac arrest meant that things would take a little longer than he hoped. He ended up in hospital for 10 days, the first couple of days under observation and then, having seen a cardiologist and consultant cardiologist, an operation to fit a pacemaker.

“It was a very thorough examination by the cardiologists and a key question for me was: why did my heart stop?

“The hospital team told me that it usually happens as a result of one of three reasons: firstly, due to a blockage; secondly, due to a lack of oxygen to the heart; and thirdly, sometimes for no reason, i.e. the heart just stops. For me, it was the third reason.”

On leaving hospital, Andrew was asked to take things easy for at least two weeks to allow the pacemaker settle and afterwards to begin slowly getting back in to his normal routine.

The consultants and team looking after him confirmed that is heart was strong, it had good oxygen intake, good blood flow and even after his cardiac arrest at the gym, there was no damage to the tissue repair that had been carried out 17 years previously as part of a bypass operation.

“Four weeks after the cardiac arrest I was back at the gym!” he says proudly.

“Obviously I took things very easy to start with and very gradually increased my exercise according to the medical advice I was given. But I wanted to get back more or less to my normal life and I’m very pleased to say I have been able to do so.”

Andrew is keen to thank everyone who helped him – from the team at the gym, to the SCAS paramedics who stabilised him and got him to hospital and the consultants and nurses who looked after him as an inpatient and who continued to do so with his followup appointments.

“It’s been a first class service all the way”, he says. And as for the missed holiday?

“Well, I got the all clear from my checkup on 23 October and by 26 October I was in Cyprus!”

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COULD YOU START A HEART? As part of its ongoing ‘Start a Heart’ campaign, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) was the first ambulance trust in the UK to launch an app that locates the nearest Automatic External Defibrillator (AED).

Thanks to Atrala Consulting Inc we now have an Apple iPhone and iPad app that users can also access their phones. Our app uses GPS functionality to show where the nearest AED is as well as a list of other AEDs in the area.

The app, which identifies over 700 AEDs in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire, could help local people save the life of a person suffering sudden cardiac arrest.

As well as providing clear and simple guidance on how to perform CPR on adults, children and infants (including hands-only CPR), the app uses GPS functionality to show where the nearest AED is as well as a list of other AEDs in the area.

As we know, details and locations of defibrillators can change from time to time, so for the past month the team at SCAS have been contacting each owner to re-verify that all the information held in the App is correct.

This is a massive task that involves contacting all 700 locations, then updating the database to ensure that the information is correct.

Web Manager Andy Humphries said “We are constantly adding and updating our app as we are informed of any changes, but this time it’s a little different. We are actively contacting them and asking if our records are still correct.

We would like to thank the organisations who are taking part for their responses to our questions; it can only make the App stronger.

We have a number of initiatives going forward that will help us to get more places such as sports centres, supermarkets and motorway service stations.

Finally I would like to appeal to the public to let us know if they come across any AEDs that are not on our map. Each one that’s added could potentially save a life”.

Remember, the first thing to do in any real emergency is to ring 999. But before you find yourself in that situation you can follow these links to download the iPhone and iPad versions of the app (click on the version you require:

iPad

iPhone

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FEB+MAR/14

VIP VISIT TO PTS, 111 AND 999 SERVICES South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) were delighted to welcome Sir Stuart Hampson and Lady Hampson to our Northern House headquarters on Tuesday 21st January 2014.

Sir Stuart is High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, and was keen to meet with SCAS Chairman Trevor Jones and colleagues to find out more about what we do, and how we help the people of Buckinghamshire.

Sir Stuart and Lady Hampson spent time talking to staff and learning about the systems we use on 999, 111 and PTS calls.

Sir Stuart said about the visit: “We all hope that we won’t need to call on the help of the emergency services, but my visit to Bicester gave me a chance to see how well our County is supported through the care, training and commitment of the whole team at South Central Ambulance Service.

It was impressive to see the full scale of their activities and to hear the professional guidance offered through the 111 service as well as the calm way in which urgent 999 calls were handled.”

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AIR AMBULANCE FUNDRAISING

New Year. New You. New Trainers?

We’re big on running here at Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) and we have a great running team here who are ready to support you, should you decide to run and raise money for us. There are many running events that you can choose from, whether you’re trying out your first 5k or you’re a more seasoned marathon runner - there is literally no limit to what you can do to support HIOWAA. Often we have charity places for sale at running events, and the BUPA London 10,000 is a great place to start. The race takes place on Sunday 25th May and starts and finishes in St James’ Park. Places are £28 and there is no minimum fundraising target. What an exciting and rewarding way to raise money for HIOWAA and to take in the sights of London at the same time. We have a limited number of places available, so if you are interested, please email alexandra@hiow-airambulance.org.uk.

Or maybe you’ve already secured your own place at a running event and you’d like to use the opportunity to raise money for HIOWAA...

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We already have runners who have signed up to raise money for us at the Basingstoke Phillips Half Marathon on Sunday 5th October.

Known for the friendly welcome, traffic free roads and challenging course, this is a ‘must do’ race for 2014 and it’s not too soon to start training now.

The BUPA Great South Run is a favourite with HIOWAA and we’ll be cheering you on again on 26th October as you run the flat and fast historic 10 mile route, taking in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and beautiful views of the Isle of Wight.

If you run for us, we’ll be here to offer support and advice both on the day and in the run up to your race - we even have HIOWAA running vests to make you feel part of the team. We want your run to be fun and rewarding and we want you to come back and challenge yourself again for us. For further details, please contact Alex Tredget on 02380 333377 or email alexandra@hiow-airambulance.org.uk.

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Many areas within the south central region have suffered from flooding recently and like all emergency services, we have experienced a high volume of calls.

Working together with colleagues from Fire & Rescue, the Police, the military, the Environment Agency, the NHS and other government agencies, we are always committed to providing the very best level of care possible.

The SCAS Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) have been working throughout the region to assist with other agencies.

The HART team were deployed to Wraysbury in Berkshire, where there had been substantial flooding, to assist with the rescue and support operation. HART staff undergo extensive water training and hold qualifications for working in difficult conditions. This expertise and training made them perfectly suited to assist with any medical issues that arose in the community.

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FEB+MAR/14

SCAS designer and photographer Ben Hennessy spent a morning with HART paramedics Gemma and Andy (aka Potter) to see first hand the role that the team have been playing. Ben picks up the story below: “HART along with the other main emergency services had set up camp (quite literally) in the playground of a junior school. With their specialist vehicles and makeshift sleeping quarters, there was quite a HART presence.

“Inside the school, a command centre from where they would run support and rescue operations had been established and the usual noise and chaos of a school dining hall had become a place of shelter from the rain to feed and water the numerous emergency services personnel, members of the military and volunteers who were all working hard.

A steady stream of people helped themselves to hot drinks, sandwiches and biscuits all provided by volunteers. There was a very strong feeling of support for the community and it was clear everyone who was there really wanted to help.

“I’d gone to Wraysbury to spend some time with the HART team to take photos and see exactly what they are doing in the community. When I arrived it was clear there was a lot of water around but it was only when we got to Friary Island in the HART 4x4 under the guidance of local flood warden Mick that we saw a street that was completely submerged, due mainly to it’s proximity to the incredibly swollen River Thames.

“On the day of my visit the water had dropped and where we were the water was probably about 2ft / 2.5ft deep in places but it was clear from the water lines on fences and houses that it had dropped by over a foot.

“Following Mick we cautiously walked the length of the street, watching out for potholes and raised manhole covers which had been forced up under the pressure of the water. As a local, Mick knew a lot about the area and the people living in it and told us about previous flooding.

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“He told us that there had been such bad floods in 1947 that houses now had to be built raised off the ground and have special grills and channels for flood water to flow through.

“Thankfully, the majority of the houses we saw were raised above the flood water.

However, without impressive waterproof gear, residents were effectively stranded in their houses. Most residents had moved cars to dry land but there were a couple that had been swallowed up by the water. We stopped at a house that had two kayaks moored outside, not a sight you see very often; one roped to the drain pipe and one to the fence.

We spoke to the owner who told us that everything was fine apart from their heating not working, but he was at least dry inside.

“He advised us to call in on an elderly gentleman further down the road. His house backed onto the River Thames but luckily, as with most others his house had been built raised up. Mick, the flood warden spoke to the man who wanted additional electric heaters for his house. There was obviously a problem with heating in the street. Most houses seemed to have electricity still which was a good sign though we were unsure how efficient their plumbing would be.

“Walking back towards the 4x4 we came across a crew from London Fire Brigade who were going to check on certain properties.

A list had been compiled of all properties or residents who needed attention or had particular requests. This info was shared amongst all agencies, which again illustrated how joined up the whole operation was.

Potter and Gemma passed on additional info about the gentleman we had spoken to and we left them to it.

“Back at the school it was time to get out of my dry suit which wasn’t as easy as you’d imagine. It had kept me bone dry and warm in cold miserable flood water, I can’t imagine trying to cope without it.

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“Spending the morning with HART showed just what a impressive range of skills and people we have working in SCAS. “These are trained specialists who are as comfortable in flood water as they are climbing up a tower crane. Some of the team had been sleeping in a tent in the playground (though I did notice a toaster and a supply of French Fancies in their command vehicle so it wasn’t all that bad…)

“All members of staff who have been involved in operations around the flooding deserve recognition for working in such challenging conditions.

“A big thank you to flood warden Mick who guided us around Wraysbury and to Gemma and ‘Potter’ for taking me out and taking the time to talk to me through what they’re doing. Thanks also to Adam Broom for lending me his dry suit and thermals and finally to Paul Haly and David Findlay for allowing me to go at all”.

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What others say about us Oxfordshire

Berkshire

Thank you so much for looking after my son; we were extremely impressed with your kindness and how well you reassured and communicated with him, you made an unpleasant experience a lot calmer and easier for him.

It was a most terrifying experience I have ever had and I shall never forget her exceptional professionalism you should be very proud to have someone of her calibre working for you

Hampshire

Buckinghamshire

The comfort I found in their compassion has by far superseded any treatment I have received from other healthcare professionals in a long time and I was overwhelmed by it; his kind words in his lovely Scottish accent remain in my memory still.

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Many thanks to the crew who attended me when I was suffering a heart attack, fortunately their actions saved my life and after a week in hospital and the fitting of a stent I am well on the road to recovery. I cannot thank them enough.

FEB+MAR/14 Buckinghamshire

I congratulate you for having such competent and caring members in your team – their attitude and actions reflected efficiency and passion for patient care throughout.

Berkshire

I just want to say that the service we received when my little girl (3 years old) banged her head and knocked herself out was absolutely fantastic; he arrived really quickly and was very thorough and reassuring, thank you so much.

Oxfordshire

They were so polite and considerate; we were very impressed with everything they did.

Hampshire

Our son died suddenly in March 2012 in his sleep, my wife and I were very grateful for the efforts of the ambulance crew that night and also for their help during his short life, we are now fund raising for your charity.

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HOW WE’RE DOING JANUARY 2014 FIGURES TOTAL 999 ACTIVITY

42,469 YEAR TO DATE 411,557

ACTIVITY VARIANCE

7.67% YEAR TO DATE 7.56%

NON CONVEYANCE

NON CONVEYANCE %

16,669

43.58%

YEAR TO DATE 159,175

What does it mean?

Total activity equates to the number of calls which received a SCAS response or were dealt with by our clinical support desks Activity variance over the same period last year.

Non conveyance is the number of incidents we responded to where the patient was not taken to hospital.

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YEAR TO DATE 42.98%

Non conveyance % is the percentage of incidents we responded to where the patient was not taken to hospital.

Category A [Red 1] - indicates a performance target for an emergency response, which is categorised as immediately life-threatening, to reach an incident within 8 minutes from the time a call is connected to the ambulance emergency control centre. The national target is to respond to 75% of all these calls within 8 minutes.

FEB+MAR/14 CATEGORY A [RED 1]

76.99%

CATEGORY A [RED 2]

76.72%

YEAR TO DATE 78.72%

YEAR TO DATE 75.95%

RED 19

CFR RESPONSES

95.15%

1,714

YEAR TO DATE 95.52%

YEAR TO DATE 15,032

111 CALLS ANSWERED

PTS JOURNEYS

84,643

32,849

YEAR TO DATE 725,981

YEAR TO DATE 363,274

Category A [Red 2] - indicates a performance target for an emergency response which may be life threatening but less time-critical. Calls should receive an emergency response within 8 minutes.

RED19 performance - indicates a performance target for a conveying response (ambulance or rapid response vehicle) to reach an incident of a life-threatening nature within 19 minutes from the time a call is connected to an ambulance emergency control centre. The national target is to respond to 95% of all these calls within 19 minutes.

111 calls answered is the number of calls answered through the non-emergency healthcare service.

CFR stands for Community First Responder.

PTS stands for Patient Transport Service.

All figures are provisional.

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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY DATE

EVENT

VENUE

Friday 14 March

111 Roadshow WITNEY

Marriotts Walk, Witney 9:00am - 5:00pm

Thursday 20 March

111 Roadshow NEWBURY

Newbury Northbrook Street 10:00am - 4:00pm

Monday 24 March

Council of Governors meeting

Shaw House, Newbury 6:30pm - 9:00pm

Wednesday 26 Public Board meeting March

13,148

Foundation Trust membership

13,000

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Newbury Rugby Football Club, Newbury.

10:00am - 1:00pm

public members to date

12,000 8,000

You can make a difference!

5,000

For more information, email getinvolved@scas.nhs.uk or phone 01869 365126.

NUMBER OF FOUNDATION TRUST MEMBERS

or ou f y t nk Tha suppor your mbers! me

FEB+MAR/14

TWEET US @ s ca s 999

T E E W T TWEET ion of Tweets ct le se ll a sm a is re e H y received tl n ce re ve a h e w t a th akeholders st , rs e n rt a p r u o m o fr k here to read lic C . lic b u p e th d n a us! more and to follow

NARU Feb 5 2:36pm Congratulations to @SCAS999 as its #UKHART Team celebrate their 3rd anniversary >> naru.org.uk/scashazardous‌ #resilience #paramedics

JoeBrookside Feb 20 2:21am @SCAS999 a big shout out to these guys! Thank you so much for your help last week!

MaryPurnell2 9 Jan 2014 @SCAS999 family member used 111 service last night - superb response at 3am by paramedics and no trip to A&E

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FEB+MAR/14 waggers5 Feb 14 12:04pm Glad to be home in the warm and dry. Spare a thought for @SCAS999 @HantsPolRoads and @Hants_fire tonight. Plus coastguard and the rest!

4,l3low6e7rs fo

Forest_K9 Feb 5 2:33am Thank you @SCAS999 for your caring and professional crew this morning who had to get my 2 year old son into SGH. All good now and back home.

medic8272 Feb 21 12:28pm @SCAS999 2 weeks ago today had my life saved by #scas999. Eternally grateful to all concerned (from one who knows how hard you work)

Follow us on Twitter @SCAS999 www.twitter.com/SCAS999

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The Communications team is always keen to promote stories in Working Together. Please email any news, stories or comments to: communications@scas.nhs.uk

4

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Units 7-8 Talisman Business Centre Talisman Road Bicester OX26 6HR

JULY

17 MAR

DEADLINE for copy for the next issue: 17 March.

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Design Âť Ben Hennessy - ben.hennessy@scas.nhs.uk