Witnessed or given CPR?

@CHSScotland have launched an advice line with trained healthcare professionals to listen and help you process what you’ve experienced and provide advice, support and a friendly, listening ear.

Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland has partnered with the Scottish Ambulance Service and the Resuscitation Research Group at the University of Edinburgh (RRG) to launch a pilot service to support those who witness or provide CPR to someone who experiences cardiac arrest at home or in the community.

The Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OCHA) Aftercare project is funded by the Scottish Government and will provide access to support for anyone participating in CPR or witnessing CPR outwith a hospital setting.

It is estimated that between 3,000 and 6,000 Scots are involved in providing CPR after cardiac arrest to members of the public each year. This can be a traumatic experience, which can impact on their wellbeing and result in emotional and social challenges.

Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland has produced wallet-sized cards promoting the service for paramedics, police, and firefighters to give directly to members of the public at the scene of the incident. Each card includes the Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland Advice Line number, so people can immediately call an advisor to talk through what happened.

Speaking at the launch of the OHCA service, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland Chief Executive, Jane-Claire Judson, said: “Every year, thousands of Scots carry out CPR or witness CPR being performed on someone at home or in a public place.  This can be a traumatic experience, and until now there has been little support available.

“We are delighted to be launching this pilot service in partnership with the Scottish Ambulance Service and funded by the Scottish Government. Emergency services staff giving out our advice line cards at the scene of the incident means people can get help immediately, or at whatever point afterwards they feel they need it.”

Steven Short, Programme Lead for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest for The Scottish Ambulance Service said: “Performing or witnessing potentially life-saving CPR can be a difficult experience to process. The launch of this innovative pilot service means that all individuals who are affected by out-of-hospital cardiac arrest can easily and quickly access support and, if needed, further aftercare.

“Ambulance service clinicians who respond to these cardiac arrests will have the wallet cards to give out on scene. The details on the cards will enable those who need it to access the advice line to talk through what has happened with an advisor and help them process the events.”

Dr Gareth Clegg, Principal Investigator, RRG, University of Edinburgh commented: “Attempting to help save the life of a loved one or neighbour by performing CPR or using a public access defibrillator is the right thing to do, but helping out can leave bystanders with questions, and sometimes a need to talk things through.

“This groundbreaking initiative signals a commitment to caring for those who have been willing to step up when someone in their community has suffered an OHCA.”

Lived Experience – Lynsey Duncan

Lynsey Duncan is the Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland Deputy Head of Clinical Services. A registered nurse, she lives in Buckie with her husband and two daughters.

In November 2021, Lynsey’s father-in-law John collapsed at home after a cardiac arrest. Lynsey battled for 20 minutes to save his life, performing CPR, before paramedics arrived. Sadly, their efforts were in vain and John, 70, passed away.

As a nurse, Lynsey had been involved in CPR before, but the aftermath of John’s death was different because she’d never had to administer the treatment to a member of her own family. The experience left her upset but she didn’t want to share her feelings with her grieving loved ones.

That’s why Lynsey fully supports the Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Aftercare project. Here she explains why.

“My father-in-law John was a farmer and he’d been diagnosed with farmer’s lung – that’s a respiratory disease caused by exposure to dust from hay, straw and grain. We’d seen a deterioration in his health over a few years, and he and my mother-in-law, Pat, moved from the farm into Buckie, near to where my husband Steven and I and our two girls live.

“We’d been on a family holiday with them two weeks’ earlier, and I noticed John was quite unwell and struggling to breathe. About a week later, he was given oxygen to have at home to help his breathing.

“On that day – it was November 5, 2021 – my girls had friends over for tea. I was busy making food and Steven had taken the dogs for a walk. He called me and told me to get to his mum and dad’s immediately. I knew something was seriously wrong, so I jumped in the car and headed over.

“Pat met me at the front door and told me John had fallen. He was in the bathroom. As soon as I saw him, I knew he hadn’t fallen. I knew he’d collapsed. Pat was on the phone to 999, telling them John had fallen, but I took the phone and explained he had arrested, and we needed help right away.

“I started to perform CPR. I’m a nurse. I’ve done this before. But it’s very different to be doing this to someone you know, someone you’re close to.

“He had been propped up against the toilet. I got him on to the floor and started chest compressions. I spent 20 minutes doing this. And throughout all of this, my mother-in-law was standing watching. It was an awful experience.

“We live in Buckie, which is fairly rural, so the first people to come were the wildcat responders. They are volunteers who are trained to provide early CPR and defibrillation. One of them took over from me as I was exhausted. Then the paramedics arrived and took control.

“My husband had arrived by then, too. I just ran to him and had a bit of a meltdown. I told him not to go through to the bathroom and kept saying to him ‘I tried, I tried’ because I knew John was gone.

“The paramedics worked on John for another 30 minutes, but it was too late. It was horrific for all of us, especially Pat. She kept saying ‘John wouldn’t want this’. She’d said that to me, but I’m a nurse – once I’d started the compressions, I couldn’t stop. And the paramedics were the same. They had to do everything possible.

“We then had to wait for the police to come because obviously this was a sudden death. And it was only when I was speaking to the police about what had happened that the enormity of it hit me.

“I kept going over it in my head, thinking ‘what just happened?’ I had bruises on my hands and cuts on my knees from the force of sitting on the bathroom floor doing CPR for so long. I even lost a toenail because I’d been leaning so heavily on my toes.

“But I couldn’t share any of this with my family because they were grieving. I didn’t want to tell them I was worried I hadn’t done enough. I felt guilty even though I had no reason to.

“That’s why I think this initiative is so important. I’m a trained medical professional, but when a nurse friend called me the next day, I broke down when I told her what had happened. What I really needed was to talk to someone who wasn’t emotionally attached who could reassure me I’d done what I could. And that is hopefully what the Advice Line will be able to do for anyone involved in an out of hospital cardiac arrest.

“I’ll never underestimate what my mother-in-law went through. She wasn’t only witnessing the death of her husband but her daughter-in-law trying to save him. I can only imagine the emotions she was feeling. If the emergency services had been able to give us both a card that said the Advice Line was there for support, I think she might have made that call. That might have been further down the line for Pat, but for me, it would have been immediately.

“Pat and my husband and my sister-in-law are fully supportive of me telling John’s story like this. They had no idea how this had affected me until they watched the video I made. They want to make sure everyone is supported when they need it after an incident like this.”

Anyone wishing to contact the CHSS Advice Line can do so on 0808 801 0899 or at adviceline@chss.org.uk

Busy night for ambulance staff on Hogmanay

Ambulance staff had an extremely busy night across Scotland on Hogmanay as they dealt with 2,006 calls to Ambulance Control Centres between 7pm on New Year’s Eve and 7am on January 1st.

Hogmanay is traditionally one of the busiest nights of the year for the Service and during this year’s New Year’s Eve, there was an increase of 2.2 percent compared the same period in 2022.

The most intense period was between 1:30am – 2:45am where staff handled 328 calls – around a call every 15 seconds.

Julie Carter, On-call Executive Director with the Scottish Ambulance Service, said: “The overall level of demand for our service over the festive period has exceeded previous years and Hogmanay was one of our busiest nights of the year.

“Yet again, our staff in our Control Centres, on the frontline and support staff showed what an incredible group of dedicated professionals they are. They are a true credit to the SAS.

“This winter we continue to face significant challenges as a result of the time of year and continuing long hospital turnaround times at some hospitals which are stopping our staff from getting back out on the road to help other patients in need.

“To help our staff, we’d like to remind people to please only call 999 in a life-threatening emergency.

“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.”

Over 300 assaults on ambulance staff

More than 300 Scottish Ambulance Service staff have been physically or verbally abused in the past year according to latest statistics.

The figures show that 328 staff have suffered abuse, attacks with weapons and death threats this year, with ambulance staff having to deal with incidents of abuse almost every day.

Of these 328 incidents – an increase of 51 over the previous year – 21 staff were threatened with either a knife or bottle, while 140 were either punched, kicked or spat on.

There have also been 124 incidents this year of verbal abuse towards staff.

Michael Dickson, Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We strongly condemn violence against our staff. They have the right to carry out their work helping patients and saving lives without fear of assault or abuse.

“Our staff are having to deal with incidents nearly every single day and that is totally unacceptable. No form of abuse will be tolerated and we will continue to work with Police Scotland to take action against perpetrators.”

The majority of the assaults or abuse was in the West region with 176 this year. There have been 123 incidents of physical or verbal abuse in the East, while in the North there have been 27 this year.

One year milestone of Scottish Ambulance Service’s Integrated Clinical Hub

Around 18,000 ambulance journeys have been avoided in the past four months thanks to the Scottish Ambulance Service’s new Integrated Clinical Hub (ICH).

The ICH, launched only one year ago, 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 64,000 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.

“As we head into a challenging winter period, 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 over the coming weeks, 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.”

Health Secretary Michael Matheson said: “The Scottish Ambulance Service is the heartbeat of our NHS. It has a unique role in engaging with all parts of the health and social care system across the whole of Scotland, 24 hours a day. That is why the Scottish Government has provided £50 million to support the ambulance service with recruitment this year.

“This investment has helped add 18 clinicians to the new Integrated Clinical Hub (ICH) and I am encouraged by the strides the hub has taken over its inaugural year in managing capacity.

“We are no doubt facing a challenging winter ahead but I’m reassured by the service’s proactive preparations and it is initiatives such as the ICH that are helping to ensure patients receive appropriate care at home or in the community, alleviating pressures on our already busy A&Es.

“I know many Scottish Ambulance Service staff will be missing out on precious time with friends and family to make sure patients receive the care and treatment they need over winter, and I’d like to thank them for their tremendous work and dedication.”

Scottish Ambulance Service Prepares for Winter

The Scottish Ambulance Service is bringing in a range of extra initiatives this winter, including new frontline staff, ambulances and enhancements to 999 call centre operations.

The initiatives will come into place in the coming weeks to help SAS meet the increased demands on their services at a time which is traditionally the busiest for the NHS.

Recruitment is already well underway to support SAS’s dedicated frontline workforce with 317 new paramedics, technicians and advanced practice practitioners joining the Service by the end of March 2024.

Additional clinicians are also being introduced in the Service’s Integrated Clinical Hub. The Hub triages less seriously ill patients who don’t need to go to A&E to receive care and provides alternative routes for treatment, freeing up ambulances and reducing pressure on A&Es.

Michael Dickson OBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We know that winter will be an extremely challenging period for the NHS which is why we’ve introduced a range of initiatives to help our patients and support our staff this winter.  

“Our patients are our priority, we will do everything we can to ensure patients are cared for and get the service they need quickly and efficiently.

“Not every call to 999 needs an ambulance or a trip to A&E and we are completely focussed on supporting patients to get care at home or close to home where it is safe to do so, ensuring patients get the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

“The SAS workforce is essential as they carry out their roles often in extremely difficult circumstances and we will continue to support them during this high-pressure time.

“We urge the public to help our staff by remembering that 999 and A&E is for emergencies, 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.”

Extra initiatives being brought in this winter include:

• New staff, including Advanced Practitioners into each region and 52 new vehicles such as Rapid Response Vehicles to help respond in a more flexible manner throughout the winter period.

• Maximising the use of trained volunteers such as Community First Responders, Cardiac Responders and BASICS, where appropriate.

• Utilising dedicated Patient Transport Service (PTS) resources for low acuity patients, freeing up ambulances to get help to very seriously unwell patients as quickly as possible.

• Connecting patients with local services and communicating pathway information to SAS clinicians.

• Daily meetings with health boards to respond to the challenges relating to hospital handover delays so that our highly-trained ambulance crews can be back out responding to the next patient in the community who needs our help.

• Hospital Ambulance Liaison Officers (HALOs) will work with senior hospital site managers and the Service, improving the hospital admission and discharge process.

• Ensuring the wellbeing of our crews, working with Health Board partners to provide refreshments for crews at hospitals in periods of high pressure and demand

• Piloting new processes to help staff finish on time to protect their wellbeing and having a wide range of health and wellbeing services available for them to access should they need them.

Scottish Ambulance Service prepares for Winter

The Scottish Ambulance Service is bringing in a range of extra initiatives this winter, including new frontline staff, ambulances and enhancements to 999 call centre operations.

The initiatives will come into place in the coming weeks to help SAS meet the increased demands on their services at a time which is traditionally the busiest for the NHS.

Recruitment is already well underway to support SAS’s dedicated frontline workforce with 317 new paramedics, technicians and advanced practice practitioners joining the Service by the end of March 2024.

Additional clinicians are also being introduced in the Service’s Integrated Clinical Hub. The Hub triages less seriously ill patients who don’t need to go to A&E to receive care and provides alternative routes for treatment, freeing up ambulances and reducing pressure on A&Es.

Michael Dickson OBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We know that winter will be an extremely challenging period for the NHS which is why we’ve introduced a range of initiatives to help our patients and support our staff this winter.  

“Our patients are our priority, we will do everything we can to ensure patients are cared for and get the service they need quickly and efficiently.

“Not every call to 999 needs an ambulance or a trip to A&E and we are completely focussed on supporting patients to get care at home or close to home where it is safe to do so, ensuring patients get the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

“The SAS workforce is essential as they carry out their roles often in extremely difficult circumstances and we will continue to support them during this high-pressure time.

“We urge the public to help our staff by remembering that 999 and A&E is for emergencies, 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.”

Extra initiatives being brought in this winter include:

  • New staff, including Advanced Practitioners into each region and 52 new vehicles such as Rapid Response Vehicles to help respond in a more flexible manner throughout the winter period.
  • Maximising the use of trained volunteers such as Community First Responders, Cardiac Responders and BASICS, where appropriate.
  • Utilising dedicated Patient Transport Service (PTS) resources for low acuity patients, freeing up ambulances to get help to very seriously unwell patients as quickly as possible.
  • Connecting patients with local services and communicating pathway information to SAS clinicians.
  • Daily meetings with health boards to respond to the challenges relating to hospital handover delays so that our highly-trained ambulance crews can be back out responding to the next patient in the community who needs our help.
  • Hospital Ambulance Liaison Officers (HALOs) will work with senior hospital site managers and the Service, improving the hospital admission and discharge process.
  • Ensuring the wellbeing of our crews, working with Health Board partners to provide refreshments for crews at hospitals in periods of high pressure and demand
  • Piloting new processes to help staff finish on time to protect their wellbeing and having a wide range of health and wellbeing services available for them to access should they need them.

PICTURES: (L to r) Newly Qualified Paramedic, Ellie Brown and Laura Robb, Paramedic, recently qualified NQP

Picture TOP: Stewart Ramsay, Paramedic, and Toni Boyd, Technician, both Glasgow East Station

Extra support for NHS this winter

£50 million to build Scottish Ambulance Service capacity

A £50 million funding boost for Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) recruitment and up to £12 million to expand Hospital at Home are among measures to support the health and care system this winter.

The Scottish Government and COSLA’s joint Winter Plan, published today, identifies new funding for SAS to support work already underway to recruit a further 317 frontline staff to help increase capacity to emergency response. It will also see 18 additional clinicians working in the call centre hub who, through additional triage, can offer patients alternative treatment routes in cases which are not time-critical, reducing the number of hospital admissions.

The expansion of Hospital at Home, which enables people to be treated at home rather than on a ward, is intended to deliver at least 380 additional beds this winter – significantly increasing the total service capacity.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with COSLA, Health and Social Care Partnerships, and NHS Boards on a number of further measures to ensure they are prepared for the winter period. This includes a Delayed Discharge Action Plan and improvements to the reporting of data to better identify specific areas for further support or escalation.

Health Secretary Michael Matheson said: “Our highly skilled and committed workforce are the cornerstone of our response every winter, both in health and social care. I am extremely grateful for their continued hard work and dedication in the face of sustained pressure. As we approach the Winter period their efforts will be vital in ensuring we deliver high quality care for the public.

“We are in no doubt that this winter will be extremely challenging for our health and social care system. Our Winter plan builds on the lessons we have learned from previous years and preparations have been on-going since spring. Our whole system approach is based on ensuring people can access the care that is right for them – at the right time and in the right place.

“Our additional investment of up to £12 million to expand the Hospital at Home service will allow people, especially elderly patients, patients with respiratory conditions and children, to receive treatments in the comfort of their own home and will crucially help reduce pressure on our A&E departments this winter.

“As a result our significant investment of over £15 million, an additional 1,000 nurses, midwives and Allied Health Professional from overseas have joined NHS Scotland in the last two years to bolster our existing workforce this winter.

“Our £50 million funding boost for the Scottish Ambulance Service will also help tackle increased demand and support on-going recruitment to drive up capacity for emergency response. This investment will also help reduce the need for people to go to hospital which is a key part of our approach this winter.”

Cllr Paul Kelly, COSLA’s Health and Social Care Spokesperson said: “As key partners in ensuring people and communities are safe and cared for over the winter period, and indeed throughout the year, local authorities have a vital role in enabling people to continue to safely access the care and support they need when they need it.

“We expect the winter to be a very challenging period across the whole health and social care system at a time when the system is already experiencing significant demand pressures and challenges with recruitment and retention.

“That is why COSLA have worked closely with Scottish Government in producing this plan, recognising the importance of the integration of health and social care, and the clear leadership role of Local Government in doing everything we can to maximise capacity across health, social care, and social work, and ensure people get safe and timely access to services during peak winter pressures.”

The Scottish Ambulance Service has welcomed the announcement of £50 million funding by Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care.

Michael Dickson OBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “This funding will allow us to invest in frontline staff, ambulances, vehicles and our 999 call centre operations. We know that winter will be challenging but the Service, and our committed staff, are working hard to meet those challenges.

“We have a whole range of initiatives which will come into place over winter to help us meet the increased demands on our services, including work to ensure we provide the quickest possible response to our most critically ill patients and we continue to support, where appropriate, less seriously ill patients to be managed at home or in the community, avoiding unnecessary A&E visits.

“Our patients and our staff are our most important priorities, and this investment will ensure we can continue to deliver the very best to our patients whilst supporting our staff who play such a critical role in their care.”

Scottish Ambulance Service staff and volunteers awarded for acts of bravery and heroism

A Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) call handler along with SAS volunteers, members of the public and two youngsters have been rewarded for their bravery at this year’s Brave@Heart awards.

The Brave@Heart Awards celebrate acts of bravery in exceptional circumstances by blue-light services, voluntary rescue organisations and members of the public.

Claire Morrow Taylor, Claire Weller, Alison Mckay, Jackie King, Alister Brown, Richie Batho, Craig Scott, Ben Kilner, Stephen Kilner, Jacob Bothwell and Jayden Fox all collected Brave@Heart certificates on Tuesday (October 3) at an award ceremony in Edinburgh Castle attended by Stephen Massetti, SAS’s Director of National Operations, and presented by First Minister Humza Yousaf.

Claire Morrow Taylor, an Ambulance Control Centre (ACC) call handler based at SAS’s West ACC, helped save a life of a member of the public who was lying on a road in Glasgow.

Her award submission said: “She immediately took control of the situation, instructing her husband to direct traffic around the incident whilst she called 999 to request an ambulance and attended to the patient. Claire, a non-clinical member of staff, demonstrated that she lives and breathes the SAS and NHS’s core values – we are proud of her actions and feel lucky to have Claire as part of the SAS Team.

Claire Weller, a SAS Wildcat Cardiac Responder, along with Alison Mckay and Jackie King, all members of the Findhorn Coastal Rowing Club, came to the aid of their crewmate MacLean MacLeod when he suddenly collapsed in April 2022. 

Their award submission said: “They immediately recognised what had occurred and could see that MacLean wasn’t breathing and had no pulse; Claire quickly began CPR chest compressions, along with Alison, and instructed the other crew members to dial 999 and access the nearest defibrillator for deployment at the scene. Jackie, who was out walking at the time, delivered two of the AED shocks.”

MacLean was transferred by ambulance to Dr Gray’s hospital and has since made a full recovery. At the time, he said: “I would not be here today were it not for Captain Claire and the crew.”

Alister Brown, a community First Responder at Largs was meeting his friend Jim Stevenson at Largs Golf Club in March 2022.  However, Jim arrived breathless and then collapsed shortly thereafter. 

His award submission said: “On examination, he realised Jim wasn’t breathing and his training kicked in. He began CPR whilst also calling for assistance to deploy the defibrillator which was located on the golf club premises. On one shock, things started moving and signs of survival were visible.”

At the time, Jim said: “I wouldn’t be here today. It’s simple – this is life-saving work.”

Richie Batho, Craig Scott, Ben Kilner and Stephen Kilner attended to a man who took unwell in the grounds of The Unit Gym and Fitness centre in Banchory. 

Their submission said: “The group realised the patient was unconscious and in cardiac arrest. They immediately commenced CPR taking turns and were able to give four shocks with the Automated External Defibrillator which was on the premises.

Young Jayden Fox, 14 of Kirkcaldy, was on holiday in Banchory with his grandfather Bill Fox suffered a cardiac arrest. 

His award submission said: “Jayden sprang into action and commenced performing CPR on his grandfather even before emergency crews arrived on the scene.  He remained calm and collected throughout and continued performing CPR until paramedics arrived on the scene which led to a positive outcome for Bill.”

Jacob Bothwell, 11 of Montrose, was at home when his mother became unwell in February 2022. 

The award submission said: “Young Jacob smartly dialled 999 from his mother’s mobile to ask for assistance from police and ambulance services. Jacob managed to call for assistance and contact his father who was out of the house on work on the day as well.  In addition to this, he looked after younger siblings simultaneously to ensure they were not panicking as well.

SAS Chief Executive Michael Dickson said: “The actions of all the Brave@Heart recipients are truly commendable and they have each showed extraordinary bravery.

“All our staff and volunteers do amazing, lifesaving work each day. They are all wonderful ambassadors for the Scottish Ambulance Service and their communities and are fully deserving of their awards.

“I’d like also to commend the actions of the members of the public, including the two youngsters who did amazing jobs to help relatives.”