Our impact in November 2024

Swindon was the most frequently visited area, with 19 missions taking place during November. Our critical care team also attended 10 missions in Trowbridge, nine in Chippenham and eight in Bath.  

We performed 26 patient transfers to various hospitals, including 12 to Royal United Hospital in Bath, eight to Southmead Hospital in Bristol and three to Great Western Hospital in Swindon. We transferred patients to six different hospitals across the region.  

With our helicopter away for its annual service, understandably all missions were undertaken by critical care car. The critical care cars carry the same equipment on board as on the Bell 429 helicopter.

In terms of mission types, our crew were called to 34 cardiac emergencies, 13 road traffic collisions, 12 falls, and attended 16 incidents involving children.  

The clinicians are often called upon to perform surgical procedures, deliver blood transfusions and administer pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia at the scene of an incident.  

During November, our critical care team carried out six procedural sedations and nine patients needed pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia, which is a vital yet high-risk intervention. It is used to gain rapid control of a patient’s physiology following serious traumatic or medical incidents.   

The team also supported 15 patients with advanced airway management, and on nine occasions used the LUCAS machine to deliver CPR.

On six occasions the team delivered a blood transfusion to a patient. We provide a level of care comparable with local hospital as the clinical team carry two units of O Positive red blood cells, two units of O Negative red blood cells and four units of Lyoplas.