New Emergency Vehicles Boost Response Times for Military Co-Responder Teams in East of England
Seven-minute advantage could make all the difference for patients in life-threatening emergencies
Patients in the east of England could see faster help in the most serious emergencies, as a new fleet of vehicles is now supporting volunteer military co-responder teams.
The cars, stationed at RAF Marham, RAF Wyton and St George's Barracks, have been brought in by the East of England Ambulance Service to help trained Armed Forces volunteers respond more quickly to 999 calls.
Thomas Barker from the East of England Ambulance Service says the difference is already clear when it comes to category one patients - those in the most life-threatening situations like cardiac arrests or choking:
“When they attend a category one patient, so that's the most life-threatening patient. So that could be somebody that's choking, fitting, or in cardiac arrest that they're normally about 75% of the time ahead of that initial ambulance service response. They're there normally about seven minutes as well prior to that response.
"So they can do some really quick, early lifesaving interventions that's going to have a real impact on that patient care episode as well is absolutely vital.”
He added:
“So us having these extra teams with this additional capacity really does mean that we respond on average, like you said, to a category one call about seven minutes ahead of a traditional ambulance service response."
"But these teams can sometimes just get there a little bit quicker, meaning that lifesaving intervention can be undertaken, which again is just really positive for that patient and also really reassuring for family members, friends, relatives, as well.”
The new vehicles are fully equipped with blue lights and lifesaving gear, and have been funded by the ambulance service, with one of the cars also benefitting from charity support.
Over the past year, military co-responders have volunteered thousands of hours, helping more than two thousand patients across the region.