Because we’re not worth it? London patients have expert care; regions don’t

Londoners are lucky: if they’re critically ill or injured they have round the clock  prehospital emergency doctors provided by the NHS  - improving their chances of survival and recovery.  Not so the rest of us – in the regions we rely on the sporadic help of volunteers and charity, according to a report published this month in the Emergency Medical Journal and co-authored by BASICS Hampshire doctor Phil Hyde.  Read more

BASICS Hampshire in new “miracle” save

Aaron Denham survived catastrophic spinal injury and wasn’t expected to survive let alone recover after his bike was in collision with a car near Southampton.

He was lucky to have a trained nurse nearby who stabilised him – and then the advent of BASICS Hampshire doctor (and Southampton consultant) Nick Maskery, who arrived with the Hants and IoW air ambulance.

The pre-hospital critical care Aaron got meant he was delivered to the experts at Southampton General in the best possible way.   Yet another argument for the NHS to fund prehospital expertise which BASICS Hampshire provides voluntarily.

It’s reminiscent of the BASICS Hampshire/Southampton General save of Chris Stewart, who suffered internal decapation and survived to recover brilliantly  in 2006.

Even so Aaron’s recovery is amazing, a tribute to prehospital care and the expertise at Southampton General and the rehabilitation he had – and not least to Aaron’s own determination.

And a great example for the drive for better pre-hospital critical care and trauma networks.  For the last ten years BASICS Hampshire have argued the NHS have ignored critically ill and injured patients – and South Central Ambulance Service have taken up the fight for the sort of expert care which means more people will live and recover better.

Read more

 

BASICS doctor to the help of badly injured kitesurfer

A BASICS doctor was able to help a man badly injured while kitesurfing off Hillhead on the south coast.  On Tuesday, the 39-year-old had been lifted by a gust of wind off the beach and dragged across roads, cars and into a fence, suffering a compound fracture of a leg and lacerations.  Dr Phil Hyde was able to  give advanced pain relief for the surfer’s extreme pain and treat him before the man was airlifted to Southampton General.   The surfer is now recovering after an operation – and after a further visit from Dr Hyde!

Ellingham family help BASICS after mother’s recovery

Kim Price’s husband and daughters were appalled when she fell from a ladder, cracking her head on a concrete floor – especially when her condition deteriorated rapidly.   They say it was lucky for her – and for them – that a volunteer BASICS Hampshire doctor was able to respond straight from an all-day practice course for emergency services. Since then they’ve been determined to fundraise.   Read more ….and more!

Downton patient meets the doctor who saved his life

For the first time since his horrendous accident in 2009, Downton teenager Chris West met Dr Sarah Assheton, who saved his life.  They met at Ringwood’s first ever Emergency Services Day on June 18, where BASICS Hampshire had a stand.  Read more from the Salisbury Journal

Fabulous Farlington

Sainsbury’s Farlington raised nearly five thousand pounds for BASICS Hampshire after adopting it as their local charity from 2010/11.

They held bucket collections, dress down days and a Family Fun Day.  Store manager Phil Bridgwater thanked staff and customers, saying “your contributions have helped support a local charity that’s close to many people’s hearts in this area.”

Dr Dunbar, Chairman of the charity, turned up to thank the staff and show some of them the kit that BASICS doctors carry.  ”And we’ll back this autumn to show you what we’ve bought with your immensely welcome donation.  By then it could already have helped save lives.”

Reluctant Emergency Services Hero of the Year

Dr Rob Dawes, who works at QA Portsmouth and is one of BASIC Hampshire’s most active members, was recognised this week as Hampshire’s Emergency Service s Hero of the Year.   

 

When first emailed about his nomination he ignored it – thinking his colleagues were pulling his leg.

It’s the second award he’s picked up in a matter of weeks: earlier he accepted a commendation from the Chief Constable of Hampshire for his services to the critically injured in the county.  

He was nominated as an emergency services hero by Roads Policing Officer Jon Lansley.   Jon  said he had in the course of his own job attended dozens of road accidents.

“When you first get to a serious injury collision and see the severity of them, your heart misses a beat.  It’s reassuring when any of the BASICS Hampshire volunteer doctors arrive on scene:  you know it means the critically injured are being given a better chance of survival.

“I’ve seen them using anaesthesia, advanced pain relief and even surgical intervention. I admire them all, but the one I’d single out is Dr Dawes. 

“He not only does his full-time hospital work, and has served his country as part of the specialist Medical Emergency Response Teams with the Forces, but he is also the top responder in the dedicated BASICS Hampshire team.  

“He is certainly the emergency doctor I see most of: in just one week he responded in his spare time to six major incidents.   These included a van driver who would have died on the Alresford Road without Dr Dawes’ expert care and a cyclist who was critically injured after crashing into a roundabout in Portsmouth.”

Dr Dawes said he was enormously pleased by his award – and that it reflected the strength of BASICS Hampshire.  He paid tribute to the other nominees from Search and Rescue: both canine and human – most of whom are colleagues.

PC Jon Lansley said the award was a great result.  “As I said in my nomination, Rob works in the worst of weather doing the most intricate procedures smoothly and surely. And like a proper hero, he doesn’t do it for fame or money – he does it because it saves lives.”

BASICS H doctor returns from Japan

Dr Nick Maskery has returned to the UK after responding to the Japanese disasters.  He was there to support the UK International Search & Rescue team: one of his main briefs to treat and advise the firefighters who are the main component of search and rescue operations.  He told BBC South it had been grim – and if for them, how much more so for the Japanese: not only those who had lost family and friends but those simply coping with the aftermath and the continued uncertainty about the nuclear reactors.

Another BASICS Hampshire member – Dr Deirdre Dunbar – has also recently returned from the earthquake zone in Christchurch, New Zealand.

BASICS organise “nightmare scenarios” for emergency training

On one corner twenty casualties amid the rubble of a bombed out superstore, on another badly injured men calling for help from a block of flats which has just suffered a massive explosion.  And in the distance, a street where an armed man is still on the loose after shooting someone.

All, thankfully, scenarios organised by BASICS Hampshire with the help of medical and nursing students from Southampton University and of Amputees in Action, the Newbury-based group who specialise in scenes like these.

“Emergency services tend to deal with small numbers of casualties,” says Bruce Armstrong, BASICS Hampshire’s training officer, “but events of the last decade here and abroad have taught us we need to be geared up for mass casualties.”

Training alongside the emergency doctors were paramedics from South Central Ambulance Service, the Hazardous Areas Response Team, police, members of Urban Search and Rescue and firefighters.

“A scene like this, with so many critically injured, takes a great deal of handling,” says Dr Howard Simpson of BASICS Hampshire, who led one of the scenarios. “Time, clear thinking and communication are absolutely critical, which is why practising triage and teamwork in realistic conditions – with all the noise and mayhem – is  key.”

Buffed-up BASICS

The Buffaloes of Gosport have been solid supporters of BASICS Hampshire for a few years now – and on Saturday they presented fundraiser Lynne Caine with a cheque for #500.   The money will go on equipment and training for the doctors – see the sort of thing they use in the Our Kit section of the website.