PHOTO CAPTION (left to right): Magpas Helimedix Doctor Alex Cross & Paramedic Paul Sallis with one of the new Hamilton T1 ventilators, in front of the Magpas Helimedix Air Ambulance
Thanks to essential public support, Magpas Helimedix has become the only pre-hospital organisation in the UK to be using (four) new, intensive care grade ventilators.
Magpas consistently strives to provide the best possible care for seriously ill or injured patients, in the East of England and beyond. Described as bringing ‘A&E to the patient’ or ‘critical care to the roadside’, Magpas Helimedix specialist Doctors and Paramedics are able to undertake many procedures that would normally be performed in A&E or even ITU departments. However, the charity wanted to do more for their patients. After a thorough evaluation of a number of ventilators, the Magpas Clinical Governance Committee found the Hamilton T1 performed at the highest level and was already in use with a big pre-hospital service in Switzerland (called Rega).
This improvement in equipment will allow Magpas to provide better ventilation (and therefore better oxygenation) to the patients they are called out to, which can improve patient outcome. For example, a patient involved in a serious road traffic incident may suffer major head and chest injuries. In this case, the Helimedix would need to protect the patient’s brain and lungs, and get them to the Major Trauma Centre. If the patient is unconscious, the team may decide to anaesthetise this patient and place them on a ventilator (which is a life support breathing machine). This particular ventilator is so sophisticated that it can adjust itself, breath by breath, to work out how best to provide the life support. The Hamilton T1 can protect the patient’s lungs and can also improve the amount of oxygen going into the lungs and bloodstream, which then goes to the patient’s brain and protects it. This patient could be an adult or the smallest of children – the ventilator works for both.
Magpas Clinical Director Simon Lewis explains, “This is an essential investment and we have made a huge leap in our capabilities with these ventilators. I know this will improve the care we are able to provide patients in life changing situations. I am very excited to about using the Hamilton T1’s and making a difference. I am also very proud of the organisation for supporting this advance and the clinicians for undertaking extra training in order to use them. A big thank you to our fundraisers for making this possible“.
