Tag: Scottish Ambulance Service

SAS to carry out simulation study as part of national drone project

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) is set to carry out vital research with members of the public to test how drones can be used in response to cardiac arrests.

Project CAELUS, funded by Innovate UK, are a group of organisations aiming to develop the UK’s first drone enabled medical logistics network. SAS, a key partner in the project, is aiming to carry out a simulation study later in the month to better understand the feasibility of delivering an Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) via drone technology.

Every year over 8000 people in Scotland have an Out of Hospital Cardiac (OHCA) arrest. This simulation study will investigate bystander interaction with the drone and also explore the protocols required to support SAS call handlers in navigating bystanders to a drone during simulated scenarios of OHCAs.

During each simulated OHCA scenario, a group of participants will be given instructions through a telephone compared to another group of participants who will be given video assisted guidance to retrieve a nearby drone-delivered AED. This study is building on existing research domestically and internationally, to better understand how drones could be used by an ambulance service in the future.

SAS chief Executive Michael Dickson said: “The entire health service, including here at SAS, is always looking at ways to innovate and find new ways of providing life-saving care. Drone delivery of AEDs to Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests (OHCA) is being investigated in several parts of the world, especially looking at how this could be used at remote and rural areas or areas of extreme urban congestion.

“This study will provide us with additional evidence to assess if drones could provide value to the Scottish Ambulance Service in the future. This innovative scheme has the potential to benefit communities across Scotland, including those in remote and rural areas. We look forward to working with our partners at AGS and the CAELUS project on developing it further.”

A number of live flight trials are planned across the country later this year as part of CAELUS.

Fiona Smith, Project CAELUS director said: “We have been delighted to work with SAS on this study. Project CAELUS  is looking forward to continuing the great work with a several key partners to showcase the potential to benefit communities across Scotland and provide equity of care to remote and rural areas.”

Karen Bell, National Innovation Programme Lead, CAELUS – NHS Grampian, said: “This is exciting work being delivered by SAS to explore how this technology could change the response to an emergency call to an out of hospital cardiac arrest in the future.

“Working in the NHS Innovation Space, NHS Grampian as the Lead NHS Board in the CAELUS consortia have welcomed the opportunity to work with SAS on this novel approach to delivering care.”

TRUST: Scottish Ambulance Service expands drug-related emergency initiative after successful pilot

The Scottish Ambulance Service is expanding our TRUST campaign Scotland-wide

An initiative to encourage young people to call 999 in a drug-related emergency is being expanded following a successful pilot, the Scottish Ambulance Service has announced.

The TRUST initiative – Take it Seriously, Ring 999, Use first aid skills, Stay with them, Tell us what they’ve taken – aims to educate and support young people who may avoid or delay phoning for an ambulance when they or their friends experience a drug-related emergency due to perceived fear of repercussions. It also covers what an emergency situation may look like and what to look out for.

Following the successful pilot in some Fife and Glasgow secondary schools, SAS will be expanding the campaign across Scotland where TRUST resources will be embedded into local drug education offerings, providing young people with the chance to also hear first-hand from emergency staff about their roles.

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Kira Watson, Clinical Effectiveness Lead for Drug Harm Reduction – East, said: “The TRUST initiative has been designed to show young people that the Scottish Ambulance Service is here to help them.

“As summer holidays and festival season continue, drug related incidents increase, and we want to make sure young people aren’t afraid to quickly seek help when they or their friends need it. Once they have received treatment, we can also make the appropriate referrals for on-going support, information and advice.”

Christina McKelvie, Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy, said: “I welcome the expansion of the TRUST initiative, which can save lives by supporting and educating young people involved in a drugs emergency.

“Through our £250 million National Mission on drugs, we are taking a wide range of measures to reduce harm and save lives – including supporting the opening of a Safe Drug Consumption Facility pilot, widening access to Naloxone and delivering drug-checking facilities which will enable us to respond faster to emerging drug trends.”

If you think TRUST would be of benefit to your local school or community space, email sas.drug-harm@nhs.scot for more information.

TRUST Campaign leaflet and poster are available for download here.

@HarmLeads

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Paramedic to receive The Doctor of Professional Studies academic award

A Scottish Ambulance Service staff member has become the first paramedic in Scotland to receive The Doctor of Professional Studies academic award.

Dr Chris Aitchison, 51, West Clinical Training Officer based at West EPDD Hamilton and from Peebles, successfully achieved his Clinical Doctorate, which is the only one of its kind in Scotland.

It is titled Describing the Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Patients Who Present to the Scottish Ambulance Service with Non-Traumatic Back Pain. A Retrospective Observational Study.

His thesis focussed on the pre-hospital identification, treatment and immediate outcomes of patients presenting to the Scottish Ambulance Service with non-traumatic back pain across one year between 2017-2018.

Speaking on why he chose this particular topic for his thesis, Chris said: “There was a subjective perception that back pain was a condition that was thought to be low acuity or unlikely to be life-threatening.

“This suggested that it was an unlikely reason to call 999, yet many friends and colleagues in SAS told me that they often responded to people with back pain.

“I determined there were no pre-hospital ambulance studies that had described the people who called us for help. To inform any future intervention or care pathways for SAS, it appeared logical a basic understanding of this population was therefore required which led to my study.”

Chris looked at the population, their demographics, age, gender, socioeconomic status, and clinically how poorly they were.

He added: “I also looked at how ambulance clinicians assessed people, their diagnoses and how the patients were managed. I also managed to capture some of the GP urgent call data in this analysis.

“I’m absolutely delighted to have been awarded the Doctor of Professional Studies academic award as I tried to design my thesis so it can help future ambulance researchers with their work, using mine like a guide. Back pain was used in this case but there is a gold mine of many other conditions that need to be explored in ambulance care. I hope my small contribution helps.”

Scottish Ambulance Service CEO Michael Dickson said: “I’d like to offer my sincere congratulations to Dr Aitchison.

“This shows amazing dedication for such an important area of work and to be first Paramedic in Scotland to receive this award is an amazing achievement.

“Research such as this is vital as pre-hospital care is such an important part of the patient’s journey, we hope it encourages others to build on this work in the future.”

VR technology and educational escape rooms used to train over 600 school children in vital lifesaving skills

Over 600 high school students have so far been trained in vital lifesaving skills as part of a groundbreaking pilot training programme using innovative technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and educational escape rooms.

The Young Minds Save Lives pilot programme, which is run by the Scottish Ambulance Service and is currently funded by NHS Charities Together, provides young people with critical knowledge and skills on how to respond in a medical emergency and preventative healthcare. The programme also aims to raise awareness about future careers in healthcare and opportunities for volunteering.

Working with staff at Shawlands Academy and Holyrood Secondary School, the pilot training programme has been designed with S3 students to meet the specific needs of the local community whilst providing interest to the young people by using innovative educational tools which are not typically used in a school setting.

The programme, which is delivered to pupils by two local frontline paramedics, covers topics such as CPR where dummies and VR headsets are used, recognising strokes, chest pain and heart attacks, drug and alcohol harm, and excessive bleeding from penetrating wounds such as knives.

The young people took part in educational escape room challenges which tested their knowledge on the topics they had been taught in order to finish the programme.

Reflecting on her experience, Mia Tait, S3 student at Shawlands Academy said: “I’ve really enjoyed taking part in the Young Minds Save Lives pilot programme and have learned loads of new skills.

“It’s also really increased my confidence, so if I ever came across or was involved in a medical emergency, I’d feel like I’d know what to do now.

“Using a VR headset for our CPR lesson was great fun and when I took it home to show my family, they were keen to have a go too!

“The programme has also given me more of an insight into the work of paramedics and the potential career and volunteering options that are available at the Scottish Ambulance Service when I’m a bit older. I’d never really thought about it before.”

Michael Dickson, Scottish Ambulance Service Chief Executive said: “The Young Minds Saves Lives pilot programme is unique.

“It’s a co-designed project working with the young people using innovative technology and creative learning methods to educate them on vital skills, and it also focuses on working with the local community to support their needs and issues with the outcome of improving population health, supporting healthcare careers of young people, and wider health and wellbeing.

“The feedback we have received from staff, pupils, parents and the community whilst we’ve been running this pilot project has been absolutely fantastic.

“The University of Glasgow have undertaken an evaluation of the programme and the next step, subject to securing further investment, is to roll the initiative out across the country in order to train more high school children in vital life-saving skills and preventative healthcare areas, which will benefit additional Scottish communities.”

The pilot programme is supported by Save a Life Scotland, Resus UK, the University of Glasgow, Developing the Young Workforce Glasgow, NHS Education for Scotland, Health Improvement Scotland and Eeek Escape Rooms.

For more information about how you can support the Young Minds Save Lives initiative, contact: sas.ymsl@nhs.scot.

Scottish Ambulance Service to provide emergency provision at Taylor Swift concerts this weekend

The Scottish Ambulance Service will provide emergency provision for one of the biggest concerts to be held in the country – Taylor Swift’s three nights at Murrayfield.

Pop star Swift will perform on June 7, 8 and 9 with all three shows sold out. Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to descend on the Capital.

SAS will be present at all three events during the duration of the concerts and on hand to respond to medical incidents and emergencies.

This includes several clinicians on site and Paramedic E Bikes covering the surrounding areas.

SAS CEO Michael Dickson said: ““We want everyone to have a good time and enjoy the event.

“However, we’d also like to remind concert goers to keep well hydrated, you’ll need it with all the dancing, think about what you are wearing you will be standing for a long time, be ready for the Scottish weather and bring any medication you normally take.

“If you do feel a bit overwhelmed by it all take a moment, focus on your breathing and if things don’t improve seek help from a member of our staff if required.”

SAS Paramedic Becomes First Female State Trumpeter

A paramedic in the Scottish Ambulance Service’s Special Operation Response Team (SORT) has become the first female trumpeter of His Majesty’s State Trumpeters of Scotland.

A paramedic in the Scottish Ambulance Service’s Special Operation Response Team (SORT) has become the first female trumpeter of His Majesty’s State Trumpeters of Scotland.

Gerry Goodall, who works out of SORT’s Newbridge base, joined the Service 14 years ago after serving in the army for nine years.

In March she was invited to attend an interview by the country’s Lead State Trumpeter, Stewart Malcolm.

Successful at the interview, her first assignment was the General Assembly for the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh, attended by Prince Edward, on Saturday (18 May).

Alongside three other State Trumpeters, she welcomed and farewelled the Duke of Edinburgh. She was also recognised at the first female State Trumpeter for Scotland and received an official decree.

The mum of two girls said: “It was an honour and a privilege to be asked. I was really happy and felt quite a sense of achievement as well.

“Having my career as a paramedic, I almost left that world so it’s quite nice to be back involved again in ceremonial events. The kids and family are also chuffed. They are proud, my work colleagues are really proud, and everyone is really supportive.”

Having played the trumpet since she was seven, she went on to study at the Royal Military School of Music before she served in the army as a musician.

After leaving the army, she joined the Service, starting out in patient transport in Galashiels, before she completed her technician course working out of Dalkeith. She joined SORT two years ago, now working out of ECHO team.

SAS Chief Executive Michael Dickson said: “This is an amazing achievement from Gerry and on behalf of everyone at the Scottish Ambulance Service we congratulate her on becoming the first female State Trumpeter for Scotland.”

Paramedic recognised at Buckingham Palace for volunteer work

A Scottish Ambulance Service paramedic has been recognised at Buckingham Palace for his volunteer work over the past nine years.

Richard Francis, who is based at Callander Ambulance Station, attended His Majesty’s Garden Party earlier this week (May 21).

Richard was invited to attend along with wife Marina MacKay where he was recognised for being the founder of the Leave A Light On (LALO) support group.

The group was founded on the 23rd March 2020 to provide aid, virtual help and a 24-hour support during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Since then, it has grown and over the past few years has housed more than 100 NHS staff, keyworkers and those in emergency situations into free of charge accommodation.

Richard said: “What a lovely occasion and celebration. We had the pleasure of being joined by over 2000 very well deserving honourable members of services, forces, politicians, celebrities and many mayors and religious representatives.
“It’s an occasion we shall never forget and we feel truly honoured to have been nominated and invited to the event.”

The LALO project has provided an abundance of emergency food hampers via referrals from the social services, child protection and domestic violence charities who almost immediately put their trust in Richard’s project.

Richard, who used to be a chef by trade, said: “The group is very passionate about not only supporting and inspiring our next generation of volunteers but also feels it is equally important to celebrate the work of those going the extra mile in the community or family support within difficult times.”

Richard has always been involved in community work. During Storm Desmond, which devastated Cumbria and parts of Lancashire, Richard began the support group ‘The Big Cumbrian Christmas Day Get Together’ which was initially setup in the hope of providing venues for those that had lost their homes to have somewhere to spend Christmas Day and still have the magical day despite all the devastation around.

LALO recently celebrated its four-year anniversary and has over 5,700 regular followers. The group is now a regular source of help for social service teams, vulnerable adult and child protection teams, food banks throughout the county, discharge teams across the counties’ hospitals, wellbeing officers and key workers for those with specialist needs.

SAS Special Operations team to appear on latest Paramedics on Scene

The Scottish Ambulance Service’s Special Operations Team (SORT) based in Edinburgh will appear on a new series of Paramedics on Scene, which airs on TV tonight (Sunday).

Isla Winnik, Ryan McLaughlin, Luke O’Hanlon, Leigh Law, Graeme Methven and Michael Slater will feature alongside SAS’s North Ambulance Control Centre (ACC), and Kilmarnock, Glasgow and Dalkeith emergency crews.

The episode features SORT attending to a man who has barricaded himself in his home and is throwing objects at the police officers, and paramedics are called out to two separate cases involving children – one who could be having a cardiac arrest, and another who has suffered a head injury while cycling.

Season Five of Paramedics on Scene is on BBC Scotland at 9am on Sunday and repeated at 8pm on Tuesday. It is also available on BBC iPlayer.

Singer Callum Beattie visits Control Centre to learn CPR and thank Scottish Ambulance Centre staff

Edinburgh singer songwriter Callum Beattie visited the Scottish Ambulance Service’s East Ambulance Control Centre (ACC) on Thursday (April 25) to learn vital CPR skills and give thanks to SAS staff.

Callum, in the middle of a busy touring schedule which includes a number of dates across the United Kingdom, spoke to ACC staff at South Queensferry, giving thanks to the entire Service, and also learning CPR from Bryan Finlay, SAS’s Community Resilience Team Leader.

Callum, along with manager Dave Rogers, said he had an enormous amount of respect for SAS and urged people to learn CPR.

He said: “I was delighted to visit the East Ambulance Control Centre today to speak to staff and learn CPR. I was really impressed with the entire team and how they handle calls from across the country.

“It really shows how important they are to ensuring people get the best possible care. I’ve always admired the entire service, so great to see how things work up close.

“I’d also like to thank Bryan for showing me CPR. It’s something I had never tried, but can see how valuable it is, so I’d encourage anyone to get out there and learn the basic skills. You never know when it could save someone’s life.

“Thanks to everyone at the ACC and the rest of the service – you do an amazing job for the people of Scotland and I was thrilled to see it first hand and learn about the different roles within the control centre.”

To find out more about how to learn CPR, visit Home – Save a Life for Scotland

Specialist SAS service celebrates 10 years of life-saving work

The Scottish Ambulance Service’s specialist transport and retrieval service (ScotSTAR) is celebrating ten years of providing life-saving care to some of Scotland’s most vulnerable patients.

ScotSTAR is a multi-disciplinary team of paramedics, nurses, advanced practitioners, and doctors supported by pilots working together to provide specialist care to seriously ill babies, children and adults across Scotland using specialist helicopters and planes.

In 2022/23 ScotSTAR provided specialist care for 3158 seriously ill children and adults with the air ambulance crews attending 4527 incidents – an increase of 10% from the year before.

Mum Amie Taylor, of Ellon, Aberdeenshire, said ScotSTAR provided an invaluable service to her very sick son, Jackson, who was born four weeks prematurely in 2022.

Jackson was placed in a ventilator and had to be transported from Aberdeen to Edinburgh with the help of ScotSTAR staff, Dr Mark Worrall, Paediatric Consultant, and Ashley Daye, Paediatric Retrieval Nurse.

School teacher Amie said: “The retrieval team take the skills of the paediatric intensive care unit on the road and knowing that these specialists were incredibly skilled gave us so much peace knowing that Jackson was being well looked after. I just want to say a massive thank you for how they made me feel on the day. We felt incredibly well supported and cared for.”

 “I am pleased to say he is a very happy and charismatic cheeky wee boy. He has been through more in his little life that some people encounter in a lifetime. He is strong, resilient and a fighter we are beyond proud of.”

Michael Dickson, Scottish Ambulance Service Chief Executive said: “ScotSTAR is an integral part of Scottish Ambulance Service and is critical to our ability to reach every part of Scotland.

“I’m delighted to be marking its 10th anniversary and I’d like to stay a big thank you to our staff who deliver this vital service for critically ill patients across Scotland, often in very challenging circumstances.

“They are all a credit to the Scottish Ambulance Service.”