From left: Bill Bertham, chairman of Cumbria Blood Bikes, Yvonne Scott, head of transfusions at Newcastle Hospitals, Peter Robertson, chairman of Northumbria Blood Bikes, Sara Avery, transfusion practitioner at Newcastle Hospitals, Sean Storey, hospital liaison at Northumbria Blood Bikes, David Malone, transport and travel advisor at Newcastle Hospitals, on the roof of the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle. Photo: Will Walker

From left: Bill Bertham, chairman of Cumbria Blood Bikes, Yvonne Scott, head of transfusions at Newcastle Hospitals, Peter Robertson, chairman of Northumbria Blood Bikes, Sara Avery, transfusion practitioner at Newcastle Hospitals, Sean Storey, hospital liaison at Northumbria Blood Bikes, David Malone, transport and travel advisor at Newcastle Hospitals, on the roof of the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle. Photo: Will Walker

A scheme developed during the Afghanistan conflict could save the lives of injured walkers and climbers in the North of England.

The Great North Air Ambulance Service, which goes to the aid of stricken outdoor enthusiasts in Cumbria, the North-East and North Yorkshire, has introduced a ‘blood on board’ service.

The medical technique means its helicopters will now carry blood for casualties who have suffered major trauma and urgently need a transfusion.

Typical uses would be in falls on mountains and road collisions.

The scheme is a collaboration with Northumbria Blood Bikes and Cumbria Blood Bikes, both of which, like the air ambulance, are charities.

Dr Rachel Hawes, consultant in anaesthesia and pre-hospital emergency medicine at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne, works as an emergency doctor with GNAAS, and has more than 15 years’ experience as an officer in the Territorial Army.

While deployed in Afghanistan she saw military helicopters deliver blood transfusion supplies directly to the scene of severely injured patients. She recognised the potential of applying this in the NHS and headed up the blood on board project in the North-East and Cumbria alongside GNAAS, and Northumbria and Cumbria Blood Bikes.

Dr Hawes said: “Replacing major blood loss for critically injured patients as quickly as possible is vital.

“Emergency doctors and paramedics working with GNAAS are specially trained and extremely experienced at stabilising patients at the scene of an accident prior to transferring them to the nearest major trauma centre. For trauma patients, this often then means an immediate blood transfusion which can be lifesaving.

“We already have processes in place at the RVI’s emergency department whereby paramedics call a dedicated ‘code red’ hotline to alert the hospital trauma team of patients en-route, with a catastrophic bleed.

“The RVI blood sciences transfusion staff then immediately prepare a major haemorrhage pack so that blood transfusion can commence as soon as the patient arrives. Since our code red hotline began in the summer of 2013 we have seen patients not normally expected to survive, make amazing recoveries.

“The blood on board concept takes this approach one step further allowing patients to receive seamless high quality care from the time of injury in the prehospital environment right through to hospital care. Having blood on-board GNAAS helicopters, may make a huge difference to a gravely injured patient’s chances of survival.”

For the service to work, blood needs to be delivered to the GNAAS helicopters every 24 hours, and kept cool while in transit.

Yvonne Scott, transfusion manager at the RVI’s blood sciences laboratories explored the various products available and eventually found suitable long-term cool boxes. The well established code-red process meant that the transfusion staff were already experienced in producing an urgent blood pack when needed but for the blood on board project required a specialist cool box that could be delivered to the helicopter and stay cool for 48 hours.

To ensure transit of the blood cool pack to GNAAS quickly and safely, David Malone, the trust’s transport and travel advisor, contacted the charitable-funded motorcycle services of the region, Northumbria Blood Bikes and Cumbria Blood Bikes. After explaining the needs of the project, both Blood Bikes organisations volunteered their services.

This will save GNAAS around £40,000 per year in delivery charges and their inclusion makes the project a realistic possibility. It will enable O-negative blood to go directly to the scene of life-threatening accidents.

Peter Robertson, chair of Northumbria Blood Bikes speaking on behalf of both groups, said: “Our volunteer bikers deliver essential blood and urgent medical supplies, out of hours, to hospitals across the North-East of England and Cumbria.

“The Blood Bikes, with their slim profile and emergency warning lights, can slip through busy traffic reaching their destination rapidly. We are delighted to provide an essential element of this region-first collaboration, ensuring urgently needed blood is delivered as quickly as possible.”

Dr Dave Bramley, medical director at GNAAS: “Our helicopters are never more than 25 minutes away from the nearest major trauma centre.

“Yet time is vital for patients with life-threatening bleeds and so having blood on board, delivered by our Blood Bike colleagues, will make a real difference to saving people’s lives.

“We are very proud to be able to set up this pioneering approach, together with Blood Bikes and one of the largest major trauma centres in the country.”

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