Part 1 of 5. From the fly on the wall documentary “Medic One – Life and Death in London” featuring Londons Air Ambulance. Broadcast on the BBC on 1st June 2009.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
HEMS LONDON – Medic One 1/5
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{ 25 comments }
@leegt5 did you notice that the helicopter is sponcerned by Virgin 1??
Good God. They have to drive there with the stress of the traffic and then work on the accident scene. WHAT is the UK goverment doing ?????
Best by far
@leegt5
dats an Poverty testimony
Trauma injuries are seen by HEMS. It isn’t up to a bunch of armchair medics to criticise and comment. They should only answer to the patients they treat, and the outcomes they lead to. London HEMS are the best in the business, and they know how to do their job
expertise compared to paramedics, they are trained to bring calm and take control of the situation and play a key role at major incidents. The advantage of the heli isn’t just to avoid the traffic, it also allows them to fly the patient directly to the best hospital, usually one of the 4 major trauma centres (some burns patients may go out of London). Although it sometimes a scoop and run may be appropriate, it is often necessary to stabilise them before moving. Remember, only the most serious
doctor is that they are infinitely more experienced in dealing with major trauma (seriously don’t bother arguing that paramedics do. The average for an LAS paramedic is about 2 a year. HEMS often go to 5 a day) they also bring the ability to perform thoracostomy and chest drain, thoracotomy for penetrating traumatic cardiac arrest e.g. stabbing, RSI and intubation, amputation and advanced life support e.g. Active compression decompression CPR. In addition to their improved range of skills and
Ok so here in London we only have 1 heli. Except Scotland all the uk air ambulances are charities. London does have 5 RR cars for night and when the heli is offline. It would simply take too long to faff about with securing the LZ, the heli will land anywhere as close as possible to the scene (Min LZ is 26ft square. Some amazing shots of it landed on the bank of the Thames between the water and the wall) they’ve done tens of thousands of landings and never had a problem. The bonus of having the
@corley989 hmm, not really. We’re not THAT rural
Plenty of emercency services here, our local ambulance station has 7 Ambulances/Medical Transports as well as a NEF (basically an emergency doctor from the local hospital). But I guess what it all boils down to is, that you can’t compare British and German emergency services.
@corley989 AFTER the ground crew has already responded and made contact and identified the need for rapid transport. In addition, the density of urban structures, power lines, parks, and other landing impairing objects make response in an urban environment extremely dangerous or impossible.
It’s simply faster, safer, and in the best interest of the patient to move them by ground ambulance in an Urban setting due to the close proximity of hospitals as compared to an rural area.
@stiglistanbul That’s because you live in rural Germany where ground hospital transport times are significantly increased due to distance. In a huge city like London, hospitals are much closer to the patients making air medical less important. The time it takes for an ambulance to respond to a call, asses the patient, and transport can be as little as 20 minutes depending on how close the unit is. The helicopter has to get it’s crew loaded, spin up, fly out, load the patient, and fly back…
omfg what a bad couverture of the territoy! but really grat skilled paramedics and doctors…
@leegt5 wow… here in rural Germany we have 3 emergency helicopters on that expanse
Is there only one emergency vehicle for the doctor or have you more than one?
Is is just me, or does Dr. Zane Perkins have a South African accent?
@leegt5 oh… in germany we have in berlin (3 million.) two and in hole germany 80-90 helicopters…
@havoc999998 Your quite right.. In london paramedics can intubate, canulate carry out needle needle cricothyroidotomy and needle cricothyroidotomy. CCPs are being made so that Ket, Midaz + RSIs can be carried out.
@SpassMacher2000
Paramedics are capable of doing everything as well. So tell me this buddy, here in Canada whenever there is a critical situation with a Patient in life or death condition. How come Paramedics here manage to do everything and get the patient stable and provide more extensive care prior to going to the Hospital ? Stop dissing Medics, you’ll be begging for one if your in need.
@sirhcdeer
Haha Yeah I feel ya man, Paramedics in Canada and the United States don’t need Doctors to go on calls. Our Medics can handle anything and they get the job done right.
@Torriano33 : I’m with you my friend. On scene time was ridiculous. And whoever the crew was prior to the heli crew getting there, didn’t even have an IV started. If this call was in my area, the BLS crew would’ve had this PT packaged and ready for the ALS crew. When they arrive, immediately in the back of the medic unit. RSI and multiple IV’s and off to the trauma center.
If it was far out, then airlift would’ve been at least put on standby and an LZ determined.
What?!?! A few things struck me about this segment:
1) One Heli for ALL of London? That’s unreal.
2) They land WITHOUT and LZ ground contact to recon and clear the zone. Why not call a engine company (fire engine) to secure a LZ for them. That’s the way we do it here in my area (Seattle/King County, WA, USA).
3) Why the heck do you need a trauma doc on the helicopter? Why not two Paramedics and/or nurses?
4) 60 minutes of on-scene time PRIOR to being flown out!?!?
WTF!
they been on scene for 60 min i don’t understand why they past so much time there. immobilise and go. You don’t know the golden hour in uk????
@anakin3456
NHS !
holy shit for whole london only one helicopter?
u have to built a system with more emergency PHYSICIANS and more helicopters
i think they do a wonderful job, if that were a member of my family i wouldnt care how long it took aslong as they arrived in hospital alive and stable. they are in the best care with a paramedic and a doctor who have the training to do whatever it takes to keep you alive, i would trust my life in their hands how ever long it took. there should be more of them. look at the good side and not trying to pick out the bad, people make mistakes.
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