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.”
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
Over 23,000 ambulance journeys have been avoided in the past five months thanks to the Scottish Ambulance Service’s Integrated Clinical Hub (ICH).
The ICH, launched in December 2022, is co-located with the SAS ambulance control centres in the west, north and east of Scotland and is made up of a multidisciplinary team of clinical advisors, advanced practitioners and GPs.
It provides assessments for all patients who are initially triaged as non-immediately life threatening and may benefit from a further virtual consultation and referral to other services in the community, rather than unnecessary trips to A&E.
Latest data shows that around 71,000 patients have been assessed by the ICH since August 2023.
Michael Dickson, Chief Executive of Scottish Ambulance Service said: “For those patients that require an ambulance, such as immediately life-threatening conditions, we will always dispatch the most appropriate resource.
“However, our data shows that nearly 50% of our patients don’t require transfer to A&E and can be better treated in other ways, such as in the home, in the community or through specialist services.
“The ICH plays a vital part in carrying out advanced assessment of these patients to identify their clinical needs to ensure they receive the best possible response for their condition.
“The hub is a vital tool in helping us free up vital capacity to attend our sickest patients whilst also reducing the demand at the A&E front door by utilising regional and national pathway alternatives.
“To help our staff we also would like to remind people that if you need urgent care, but it’s not life-threatening, you can call NHS 24 on 111, day or night, or your GP during opening hours.”
Lifesaving volunteers from Penicuik Community First Responders recently celebrated the group’s 18th anniversary.
Penicuik Community First Responders (CFRs) are a group of volunteers trained by the Scottish Ambulance Service to respond to a potential life-threatening emergency in the vital first few minutes before an ambulance crew arrives.
They cover the EH26 postcode and surrounding areas, and currently have six members who meet up monthly and have been involved in the group for several years.
Yvonne Mitchell, Co-ordinator for Penicuik CFRs said: “We are immensely proud to mark our 18th anniversary. This milestone is a testament to the dedication of our volunteers and the support from our community.
“We train as CFRs to help others who live in our area, whether it is being first on scene at a cardiac arrest, or providing a listening ear and holding someone’s hand while the ambulance crew is on route.
“We look forward to many more years of serving our community and making a positive impact on the lives of those in need.”
Michael Dickson, SAS Chief Executive, said: “Congratulations to the Penicuik community first responders on this fantastic achievement.
“Our Community First Responders play a vital role in their communities, starting treatment while an ambulance is on route as every second counts, particularly when a person suffers a cardiac arrest. We are thankful to each and every one of them.”
A mum stuck on the side of the road following Storm Gerrit flooding said she’ll always be grateful to the emergency responders who rushed her to hospital to give birth to her first child.
Louise Lyon, 31 of Pitlochry, was on the A9 near Ballinluig on December 28 around 11.20 am, and enroute to Perth Royal Infirmary to give birth, alongside partner Stephen Nicol.
However, with Louise in the late stages of labour, flooding forced the road to be closed.
An ambulance crew of Selene Rae, Paramedic, and William Young, Paramedic Team Leader, of Pitlochry, Alistair Daw Paramedic and David Bywater, Lead Consultant Paramedic, both working out of SCAA’s Helimed 76 alongside Pilot Captain Kimball Chillcott, also attended to assist with the road transfer of Louise to Perth Royal Infirmary.
Louise said: “As this was my first baby, my partner and I were both scared that we would not make it to the hospital in time.
“From the moment the ambulance arrived, Selene made me feel so at ease and cared for. My waters had broken and I felt embarrassed and scared but she was calm and made me feel comfortable and got me gas and air to help alleviate the pain.”
Louise and her partner were transported to Perth Royal Infirmary by road ambulance and she gave birth to Olivia at 1305.
She added: “A paramedic from the SCAA air ambulance team stayed in the ambulance with us to support should things develop quickly.
“During the ride to the hospital, they continuously checked me after each contraction and encouraged me to use the gas and air to ensure I didn’t give birth in the ambulance before it was time. They spoke to me the entire time to make me feel comfortable and tried to ease the fear I had.
“Upon arrival at the hospital, they stayed with me during my labour and helped me to welcome my little girl into the world. They made a first-time mum feel very safe and cared for. The care that they provided was above and beyond what I could ever have expected.”
To say thanks, Louise also delivered a card to the crew at Pitlochry to say thanks to all those involved.
She wrote: “Thank you so much for the care you gave me whilst I was in labour. Words can’t express how grateful I am to you. You truly went above and beyond to ensure Olivia was brought into the world safely.”
She said that without the responders, her partner would have had to become a midwife and deliver the baby at the side of the road.
She added:” I cannot put into words how scared I was and from the moment the paramedic stepped out of the ambulance my fear completely slipped away. The two paramedics supported both myself and my partner to ensure we remained calm after what had been a traumatic experience.”
A new initiative is underway to provide greater support to persistent callers to the 999 service in an effort to direct patients to the best health service provider for their needs.
The Scottish Ambulance Service’s new High Intensity Users team has been set up to try and improve care for patients with complex needs, whilst reducing demand on 999 services.
During a 12-week period, the team identified 137 patients who regularly call 999 for assistance whose needs to be better met by other parts of the health service. The team provided intervention and support to them, educated them on how to access best healthcare services for their needs and encouraged them to only call 999 in an emergency.
Prior to the team’s help and support in their care, these patients had collectively generated 4502 emergency calls. Following engagement and education, these patients generated 2017 emergency calls – a 55% reduction.
Neil Reid, Clinical Effectiveness Lead High Intensity Users, said the SAS process for identifying persistent callers was first to gather intelligence on the user’s call data and then make the patient and GP aware. This was followed by intervention, escalating support and then a case review.
He said: “Many of these callers have complex needs and call 999 regularly throughout the day for assistance. By engaging directly with them to better understand their needs and reasons for calling 999, we were able to educate them on some alternatives more suited to their needs.
“In some cases, we have found that we have been able to identify unmet social needs or mental health crisis earlier, patients are involved in decisions relating to their care and this has led to better outcomes.
“This work is vital as it improves care and support for patients across the country.”
