THE Major Trauma service at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) has launched its first fully equipped Critical Care vehicle.
It is the first NHS hospital in England and Wales to have a rapid response vehicle, which enables its doctors to provide pre-hospital critical care responses for the first time. The car is expected to make at least 50 callouts every year.
The car - which has been made possible through £50,000 funding from the HELP Appeal, and £60,000 from the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Charity, is a fully marked blue light response vehicle that is being used by doctors 19 hours a day.
The vehicle will attend major trauma patients across Cornwall, who may have suffered severe injuries from incidents or accidents, such as falling from height or a car collision.
When patients suffer life-threatening or life-changing injuries, they should be taken directly to a Major Trauma Centre such as Derriford Hospital, Plymouth or to the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.
However, before the critical care car became operational, some patients would have had to come to RCHT to be stabilised first, which could take several hours.
Now, RCHT doctors are working with the Cornwall Air Ambulance Critical care paramedics, delivering anaesthesia on scene, establishing patients on a ventilator and taking them direct to a Major Trauma Centre, providing critical care en route.
Dr. Dan Bawden, Consultant at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We are continually making provisions to improve the care of our major trauma patients.
"As part of this, the Major Trauma and Transfer Consultant role was created in May 2019, which works to provide a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week rota to assist in major trauma reception, resuscitation, and transfer care.
"The launch of this new car enables a major trauma consultant with advanced resuscitation drugs and equipment to be at the scene of the accident.
"Here they are able to support colleagues from South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWAST) and Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust (CAAT) to deliver the very highest standards of trauma care.
"With the car fully equipped, our consultants will be able to drive direct to the scene, either from the hospital, or when on call at home, and start treatment immediately.
"They are also escorting patients direct to either the Royal Cornwall Hospital's Emergency Department, or to the adult Major Trauma Centre in Plymouth or the paediatric major trauma centre in Bristol."
"Many communities in Cornwall are very remote, so when incidents do occur, it's vital that we're able to get to the patient as quickly as possible and provide treatment from the point of injury.
"The car is great for this, as it will improve not only the immediate care of the patient, but also dramatically decrease the time taken to get the patient to the Major Trauma Centre and provide the potentially vital care they need."
Sarah Newton, Chair of Royal Cornwall Hospitals Charity, said: "It is thanks to the great generosity of our local community that Royal Cornwall Hospitals Charity have been able to fully equip the response car.
"The provision of equipment, such as a defibrillator, ventilator and protective clothing for the teams, has been provided through funding of just over £60,000 from our charity.
"The response car will be a fantastic addition to services in the County. We are so pleased to be able to support such an exciting and worthwhile advancement."
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