Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT) has always been ready to assist its NHS and emergency service partners. It is again ready to help as much as possible during this time of great need.
Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) there is an unprecedented demand on our Hospital and Ambulance Service partners, this has led to an escalating need for patients to be transferred between hospitals. To help with this, the charity will make its Critical Care Team based at Earls Colne available to transfer patients from Thursday 9th April 2020.
Where possible the aircraft will be used to fly the Critical Care team to the hospital of need, the team will then transfer the patient to the new destination hospital via land ambulance and then return to base to prepare for further transfers. EHAAT has been asked to assist due to the experience of its Doctor and Critical Care Paramedic teams.
It is vitally important that EHAAT continues to provide a life-saving 24/7 Helicopter Medical Service (HEMS) during this time. The critical care team based at North Weald will continue to provide vital care to the people and communities of Essex, Hertfordshire and surrounding areas using both the AW169 helicopter and rapid response vehicles.
In addition to supporting the need for urgent inter hospital transfers the charity also wants to make effective use of its resources and has offered to support the Mid and South Essex University Hospital Group (MSE UH) at Basildon Hospital, Broomfield Hospital and Southend Hospital with the provision of a Pre-hospital Care Doctor from the EHAAT team who will assist with patient transfers between these three hospitals over the coming weeks.
Stuart Elms, EHAAT Clinical Director, said “This is an unprecedented time for the nation, the charity, our supporters, our clinical team and indeed for all of our families, friends and colleagues. The speed with which we have all had to adapt to the changes brought by COVID-19 has been exceptionally fast, no one could imagine the demand on the healthcare system over such a short period of time. We are also thinking of the patients, colleagues, friends, and family members who have become unwell during this pandemic. We are humbled and inspired by the strength of these people in often sad circumstances. Their courage gives us the inspiration to try even harder”.
In addition to the above Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Patient Liaison Managers (PLM’s), Tony Stone and Adam Carr, are supporting the London Nightingale Hospital working in their Family Liaison Team alongside their core EHAAT work. EHAAT is proud to support this role which utilises the PLM’s communication skills to support families affected by COVID-19.
