MIDLANDS Air Ambulance charity chiefs have launched the cause’s first cardiac car to serve Worcester and the surrounding area.
Following the success of Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and the HELP Appeal’s first critical care car, which operates in Birmingham and the Black Country, the new car will help support the vitally important work of West
Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) and attend medical conditions such as heart attacks, cardiac arrests and strokes.
A recent WMAS report revealed emergency service attends 4,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests each year across the region.
The new BMW X5 cardiac car will operate from the charity’s Strensham airbase for 12 hours daily from 8am. It enables the specialist paramedic on board, who regularly attend more complex medical conditions, to reach and offer early advanced medical intervention to patients with serious medical conditions, by offering sedation and advanced drugs.
In addition, the car carries the same kit as the charity’s three helicopters, and also includes specific cardiac arrest equipment such as feedback defibrillation pads and a new automatic CPR device, which performs chest compressions.
WMAS has recruited three new team members who will undertake shifts manning the car and dispatching the car from the critical care car desk situated at their base in Brierley Hill.
Hanna Sebright, chief executive for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “While we will always remain a helicopter-led pre-hospital emergency service, our mission is to support patients by delivering advanced care as swiftly as possible.
Robert Bertram, chief executive of the HELP Appeal, the only charity in the country dedicated to funding hospital helipads; air ambulance base helipads and equipment, said the new car would make a difference.
“Its team’s specialisation in treating heart attacks and strokes means patients will be given the best possible chance of survival as they will be treated by experts in these fields, using the car’s bespoke medical equipment,” he said.
Visit www.midlandsairambulance.com, find Midlands Air Ambulance Charity on social media or call 0800 8 40 20 40 for more.
