WHO WE ARE

1

Magazine e c n la u b m A S erset Air m o LD BE YOUR S U O d C n IT a Y t A e D s or ONE The Official D GETHER WE HELP SAVE LIVES| ,2022 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk TO

Issue 1

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

ULTRAFAST BROADBAND FOR THE SOUTH WEST

Place your order today truespeed.com 01225 233 060

ABOUT US

Welcome elcome to the spring 2022 edition of Beeline and my last foreword. Many of you will already be aware that I am retiring in June this year, after 11 and a half years as Chief Executive Officer. This has been part of the plan for a number of years, but they do say that time flies when you are enjoying yourself and I can certainly testify to that.     However, not only have I enjoyed myself, I have also had the most profoundly satisfying professional experience. I have had the privilege of working with people who are determined to be the best they can be, so that they can better serve the people of Dorset and Somerset. Whether they are clinically, aviation, financially or community focused, they all demonstrate a generosity and humility that comes from a recognition that service to others is the noblest of causes and I thank them all for the amazing support they have given me over the years.  Within this edition, we have information on the use of blood products and brief details of a national blood trial we are taking part in; we look forward to sharing more on this in due course. There is also a piece on how, after years of development and preparation, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has become the first local air ambulance to be accredited to conduct time-critical inter-hospital paediatric transfers in the UK. We were delighted when this innovative project was recognised by Air Ambulances UK in this year’s Awards of Excellence, which you can read all about on page 32.  Elsewhere, you will see that we have welcomed five new co-pilots to the team and are moving towards a multi-pilot system. 

W

This change to our previous approach was driven by the flight safety implications of the competing demands on our clinicians. These have been brought about by the increasing complexity of the clinical missions and the high level of flight currency required, particularly at night.   One unexpected benefit of this change is that we welcomed Hannah Nobbs back to the charity as one of the new pilots on the team. This is Hannah’s third incarnation, having started life with us as a volunteer, before moving on to become a trustee. Hannah shares her journey with you on page 16.   Over the years, I have had the great pleasure of sharing exciting updates on what we have achieved and news of upcoming developments. More importantly though, I have been able to highlight the incredible stories of lives saved or improved by our intervention. That is, after all, why we are here. The patient stories contained within this edition are varied and remarkable. My personal thanks go out to you all for taking the time to share such detail and emotional accounts.   Finally, it is with this edition, that I wish you all the very best good fortune for the future.

Bill Sivewright

Registered Charity Number: 1078685

Lottery office: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Unit 3, Brook Road Industrial Estate, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 2BH. Tel: 01202 849530 Editor: Tracy Bartram Assistant Editor: Lara Battersby Designer: Anthony Collins Production Editor: Claire Robinson Front cover image: Kev Rutherford © 2022. The entire contents of this publication are protected by copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA). The reproduction of advertisements in this publication does not in any way imply endorsement by DSAA of products or services referred to therein.

Chief Executive Officer Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance

If you currently receive a copy of our magazine or other communications from the Charity, please be assured that your details will not be passed on to third parties, unless it is to support the charitable objectives of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. We never sell your data and we will never share it with another company or charity for marketing purposes. If you no longer wish to receive these communications, you can ‘Opt Out’ at any time by contacting us via the following means: Tel: 01823 669604 Email: [email protected] Post: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Landacre House, Castle Road, Chelston Business Park, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 9JQ

@dsairambulance

Published by: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Landacre House, Castle Road, Chelston Business Park, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 9JQ. Tel: 01823 669604 Email: [email protected] www.dsairambulance.org.uk

BAMBOO HOUSE PUBLISHING

For advertising queries, please contact Bamboo House Publishing Ltd Tel: +44 01225 331023 www.bamboohouse.co.uk

3

CONTENTS

10

Contents 2 Welcome

A fond farewell from our CEO, Bill Sivewright

19 A note from our Chair

Our Chair of Trustees, Gillian Bryce, reflects on the past six months

WHO WE ARE

OUR PATIENTS

6 About us

20 “Things could have been very different”



Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is your service, provided for people in your area, with your support

WHAT WE DO 8 Clinical update

There have been some key developments to our clinical services over the past six months

9 Blood transfusions in the pre-hospital environment

Managing blood loss before a patient reaches hospital is key to improving their chances

10 Our blood service

DSAA carries a range of different types of blood products, drugs and equipment to help patients

12 An expansion in advocacy for children

DSAA formally supports the time-critical inter-hospital transfer of children across the region

14 View from the cockpit

What happens when our AW169 aircraft (Pegasus, aka Peggy) goes for maintenance



On Christmas Day last year, 13-year-old James Clark found himself in need of our time-critical inter-hospital paediatric transfer service

21 “We feel truly humbled and grateful”

Lily and her mum Charlotte pay thanks to the crew that played a part in saving Lily’s life

22 “It really is a miracle they survived”

Joe, Sam and Harry were involved in a serious climbing accident last year. Two of the boys needed urgent pre-hospital care

24 “I thought we would lose him there and then”

When Darren Pitman fell ill very suddenly, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance were tasked to help

26 “We will always be incredibly grateful”

Police Community Support Officer Mark Lane needed our help when he suffered a cardiac arrest

16 A flying dream for Hannah

29 “Day in, day out, they help all sorts of people”





4

Hannah Nobbs is one of our new co-pilots. Her journey to this point has been very interesting

Kim Goodwin thanks those who helped her when she was involved in a horse-riding incident 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

CONTENTS

26 44

30 “I placed my trust in the amazing air ambulance team”







Angela Jarrett received the call that every mother fears; that her daughter Issy had been involved in a head-on road traffic collision

31 More thankyous from our patients…

Short messages from other patients who have kindly agreed to share their stories

43 Tony’s birthday gift to us

44 Family affair



32 Air Ambulance Awards of Excellence

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance was shortlisted as a finalist in five categories this year

A local firm of funeral directors raise funds for us

44 Changing red suits – from Critical Care to Santa Stride

NEWS

Our thanks to Tony Diment, who used his 80th birthday party to raise funds for DSAA

Swapping uniforms for Santa costumes

45 Winning team

DSAA are Dorset County Football Association’s new charity partner

45 A Dorset Kitchen

34 New gift cards launched





HOW YOU CAN HELP

A DSAA gift card makes a unique present for someone special – and raises money for a great cause

We are extremely grateful to be one of the beneficiaries of the sale of a very special cookbook



IN THE COMMUNITY 35 In the community

Thank you to all the people who have supported us during these trying times

46 How to make a difference

Your donation really does make a difference

47 New ‘Blossoming and Blooming’ Open Gardens initiative

HOW PEOPLE HELP



40 Help us save lives, £1 at a time

48 Other great ways to support us



Joining our Flight for Life Lottery is an inexpensive way to help raise vital funds



41 Flight for Life Lottery Grand Draw



The results of our 2021 Grand Christmas Draw

42 A wonderful Coast to Coast

After nearly a two-year break, our fantastic Coast to Coast cycle event was back! @dsairambulance

This summer, members of the public will be opening up their gardens to help raise funds

There are so many ways you can help us

49 Your legacy, their future Leaving a gift in your Will

LETTERS

50 Postbag

You have your say 5

ABOUT US

About us The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is YOUR service – provided for people in YOUR area – with YOUR support orset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) is a registered charity, established to provide relief from sickness and injury for the people of Dorset and Somerset, by the provision of an air ambulance, with an air and road-delivered critical care capability. We receive no direct funding from the Government or the National Lottery and rely on the generosity of the public for support. Our operational costs are over £5 million a year and the approximate cost per mission is £3,000.

D

Operations We operate 19 hours a day (7.00am - 2.00am) providing a critical care service, using our AgustaWestland 169 (AW169) helicopter and critical care car. We also provide an enhanced care service using our outreach car in Dorset from 10.00am - 10.00pm, while working towards providing a seven-day per week service in Somerset for 2022. We are tasked as part of the ‘999’ emergency process by a dedicated Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) desk located at Ambulance Control (paid for by the South West Air Ambulance Charities). Our airbase is situated at Henstridge Airfield on the Dorset/Somerset border. From there, we can be at any 6

point in the two counties in less than 20 minutes. More importantly, the helicopter can, if required, then take a patient to the nearest Major Trauma Centre in the South West within a further 20 minutes.

Providing critical care Our cohort of clinicians includes a mixture of senior emergency physicians, intensive care consultants and anaesthetists, critical care nurses and specialist practitioners in critical care. When responding to incidents by air, we provide a critical care team consisting of at least a doctor, specialist practitioner and two pilots for each mission. The doctors are predominately drawn from NHS Hospital Trusts across the region and the practitioners are from the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASfT). Some clinicians have joined us from further afield, broadening the skills and experience of the team.

Supporting patients and their families Our patient and family liaison nurses provide support to patients who have been treated by our team and can answer questions they might have about their pre-hospital care. They also provide links with patient www.dsairambulance.org.uk

support services and other charities aligned with the patient’s condition, while encouraging peer support links with other similarly injured patients.

Our pilots are provided by Specialist Aviation Services Ltd, who operate our aircraft. The pilots come from varying backgrounds, but the aircraft commanders are highly experienced and carefully selected because air ambulance flights are more challenging than regular non-emergency flight services.

contribute unpaid time to our fundraising activities. They perform a wide range of invaluable duties on behalf of the charity, including servicing our collection boxes, giving talks, supporting events and manning information/merchandise stalls. Our volunteers are the eyes, ears and voices of DSAA within the communities we serve and their interaction with the public helps to raise awareness and funds in support of our work. They also provide us with an excellent feedback mechanism, which helps to shape our approach to volunteering and fundraising.

Trustees

Staff/Offices

DSAA is controlled by a Board of Trustees embracing a balanced spectrum of skills and experience, including healthcare, aviation, legal, business, finance, the Armed Forces, charities and local affairs. Trustees are appointed in accordance with the DSAA constitution, in line with a defined procedure and fulfil their responsibilities in accordance with clearly defined and approved Terms of Reference. The Board comprises a Chair and up to 12 other trustees.

The charity has a small team of 20 full/part-time staff (17 full-time equivalent). We have two offices; one located in Wellington (Somerset) and the other in Wimborne (Dorset).

Pilots

Volunteers The charity is extremely well supported by over 100 volunteers spread across Dorset and Somerset, who

@dsairambulance

Code of conduct DSAA is committed to maintaining the highest standards of fundraising behaviour and adhering to the standards set by the Fundraising Regulator. We are also a member of Air Ambulances UK (AAUK), the national organisation representing, supporting and advocating the life-saving work of the UK’s 21 air ambulance services.

7

WHAT WE DO services. SWASfT is the largest ambulance service in the country and they task a total of five air ambulances across their domain. Understanding the significant complexity this involves, SWASfT is undertaking a wide review of the tasking of enhanced and critical care assets, in which Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) is playing its part.

Outreach Our outreach team continue to be the main source of interaction and engagement with our emergency services colleagues. In Dorset, our outreach car operates for 12 hours a day, seven days a week and in Somerset, the outreach car is now operating 12 hours a day for four days per week. Both are manned by an enhanced care practitioner (a critical care paramedic or nurse). With the addition of our four most recent trainee specialist practitioners, we are expanding our outreach service in the Somerset area; increasing the days that the car operates. This will provide another step-change in the number of patients that we will be able to treat.

Clinical update All six of our clinical services have continued to substantially develop over the past six months. These services include injury prevention, decision support, outreach, critical care, inter-hospital transfer, and patient and family liaison Injury prevention Injury prevention aims to save more people’s lives. Our injury prevention team are passionate about doing everything they can to look after the people of Dorset and Somerset, through engaging in injury prevention; something that costs little to undertake, but for those whose lives are saved, the benefits are immeasurable. Our team have been immensely busy over the last six months, undertaking injury prevention activities in the following areas: young driver (Safe Drive, Stay Alive), water safety, motorcyclists (DocBike) and farming. They have also been increasingly active in the domain of secondary prevention for cardiac disease.

Decision support Our critical care team provide decision-making support for our South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASfT) colleagues, by phone or via radio communications. When it comes to tasking of specialist assets, this is a challenge for all emergency 8

DAVID BAKER

Critical care DSAA operates a critical care team for 19 hours a day, (over two shifts), seven days a week. Over the past six months, 100% of these shifts were covered by a critical care team (practitioner and doctor). At times, staff absence at short notice, due to COVID-19 contact isolation, has made maintaining our rota extremely challenging. Despite this, the team have maintained complete service reliability. This absolute continuity enables the SWASfT Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) desk and our ambulance service colleagues to rely on us, which in turn increases the utilisation of our service, contributing to why DSAA is the busiest air ambulance service in the South West.

Inter-hospital transfer Our time-critical inter-hospital transfer service has been used to good effect over the past six months. These transfers ensure that patients get to a definitive point of care, as safely and quickly as possible, by using our critical care team and aircraft. In December, an immense collaboration between DSAA and regional NHS networks, which formally supported the time-critical inter-hospital transport of children in the South West, was awarded ‘Innovation of the Year’ at the Air Ambulance Awards of Excellence. This innovation is the first of its kind in the UK and you can read more about this on page 12.

Patient and family liaison Our patient and family liaison nurses have continued to work extremely hard for patients and families who have been touched by our service. Their work was highly commended at this year’s Air Ambulance Awards of Excellence, which you can read about on page 32. Many of the patient stories featured within this edition of Beeline highlight the remarkable journeys of our patients and their families, the care that our team provided and the important role that our patient and family liaison service played. 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

WHAT WE DO

Blood transfusions in the pre-hospital environment 40% of major trauma patients die in the UK because of blood loss. Of these deaths, between 33-56% occur before the patient reaches hospital. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) has been carrying blood products since 2016. Since then, over 200 patients have received blood in the pre-hospital environment ur critical care team only give blood products to patients in the pre-hospital environment, if the patient is unlikely to survive to get to hospital without them. By carrying blood products on our aircraft and cars, more patients reach hospital alive and more patients are given the opportunity of surviving their injuries and returning home. The setup costs for providing a pre-hospital blood transfusion service are not small. Specialist freezers are required within the hospital, in which to cool packaging to -30°C to keep the blood cool for up to three days. Credo Cubes house the blood and contain a specialist temperature data logger to ensure the ‘cold chain’ is maintained, specialist blood warming devices are required to warm the blood to body temperature as it is given to the patient and vehicles are required to take the blood from the hospital to our airbase. In June 2016, a collaboration with Dorset County Hospital, Devon Freewheelers, South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASfT) and the Henry Surtees Foundation, resulted in patients across Dorset and Somerset being able to receive blood components at the scene of an incident. The Henry Surtees Foundation kindly provided us with financial assistance to cover the initial set-up costs of our blood service, together with the leasing costs of a Vauxhall Mokka 4x4 vehicle, to enable the blood to be delivered to our team.

O

Your blood, their lives It is with thanks to members of the public, who willingly give their blood to help others, that we can offer a transfusion service to our patients. NHS Blood & @dsairambulance

Transplant collect the blood that you donate, separate it into component parts and distribute it to hospitals around the UK.

Support from Dorset County Hospital All the blood products that we carry are provided by the transfusion laboratory at Dorset County Hospital, based in Dorchester. Maraneka Greenslade and her amazing team of staff have been instrumental in developing protocols and procedures to ensure that we are never without a range of blood products, with which they can help to preserve life. Every 48 hours, new blood and plasma is sent to our airbase. At the same time, any unused blood is returned and re-enters the hospital stock, with preservation of the cold chain being certified by interrogation of the accompanying data loggers. Dorset County Hospital also provide us with specialist dried blood products to help patients to clot and stop their bleeding process.

Vital service from Devon Freewheelers Devon Freewheelers are the volunteers who bring the blood from the hospital to our airbase every 48 hours, return any unused blood and undertake special unscheduled deliveries every time blood is used. This ensures that our critical care team always have blood products available for their next mission. Over the last year, their team of eight volunteer drivers have made 230 deliveries to Henstridge. This total is made up of 189 scheduled deliveries, plus 41 unscheduled deliveries to replenish the blood at short notice (day or night). They work 365 days a year and have a driver on standby 24/7. 9

WHAT WE DO

Our blood service Here we explain the different types of blood products, drugs and equipment that we use to help bleeding patients. We also highlight the importance of research and say thank you to those who donate their blood to help others orset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) operates under the clinical governance of the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASfT). We also adhere to the blood transfusion training policies of Dorset County Hospital and handle the blood in accordance with strict policy from the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulations Agency. Our critical care team attend regular training sessions to keep fully up to speed with the latest evidence, protocols and policies. All our blood transfusions are audited. Follow-up data regarding patient injury severity and survival outcome is analysed with support from our regional major trauma centres. This helps to establish whether what we are doing is saving lives, while constantly looking for ways to improve our patient care. The Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) desk, based at the ambulance service control centre, task DSAA to incidents. When blood is given to a patient, our critical care team will notify the HEMS desk, who will organise for the transfusion laboratory at Dorset County Hospital to prepare more blood products and for the Devon Freewheelers to transport it to our airbase.

D

10

Blood products we carry to help bleeding patients DSAA operates in a very rural environment. The major trauma centres who receive severely injured patients in the South West are located at Southampton, Bristol and Plymouth. That’s why our critical care team need to be able to stop active bleeding and carry enough blood products so that we can get patients to any one of these major trauma centres alive. The blood products we carry on DSAA include: Plasma: Plasma is a yellow fluid, which is a component of whole blood. It is separated from donated blood by NHS Blood & Transplant. Plasma not only helps to re-fill the patient’s blood vessels after significant blood loss, but crucially helps the body to form clots at the injury site to stop bleeding. 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

WHAT WE DO

which is a freeze-dried plasma, that can be reconstituted at the roadside. The beauty of Lyoplas is that it lasts for 18 months and therefore can be used if further blood products are required.

Specialist equipment and drugs used to help bleeding patients

Red blood cells: Red blood cells are another component of whole blood and are the main mechanism by which the body transports oxygen to the tissues. DSAA carries O positive and O negative blood, which can be given to men, women and children without the need for crossmatching. We carry four units of red blood cells and four units of plasma, split evenly between two shock packs. Fibrinogen: Fibrinogen helps to form the scaffolding required for the body to form a clot. It binds platelets and other blood proteins to form a plug, but in low levels can be a cause of continued bleeding. By administering fibrinogen to bleeding patients, our critical care team are helping to maintain sufficient clotting proteins within the body to help reduce and even prevent further blood loss. Lyoplas: Sometimes despite carrying all the above, our critical care team need even more help to get a bleeding patient to hospital alive. Therefore, we carry Lyoplas, @dsairambulance

Devon Freewheelers transport blood to and from our airbase

While our critical care team are preparing to transfuse blood products, attempts are made to stop the bleeding by using drugs to help the patient’s blood to clot and devices to stop the bleeding mechanically. These include a drug called tranexamic acid, which helps to prevent the body from breaking down its own clots. It is given first, when a patient is suspected of bleeding due to trauma. Splints and binders can help to reduce bleeding from a broken pelvis or large bone. Specialist clotting dressings, emergency bandages and tourniquets can be applied directly to actively bleeding areas and the use of ultrasound machines can help to detect bleeding inside the patient, which would otherwise go unseen from the outside. Patients are always kept warm using a Blizzard heat blanket and blood warming devices help the body to clot.

Evidence and research of pre-hospital blood transfusions Our team are always looking for ways to ensure that best practice is used on every patient. As blood transfusions in the pre-hospital environment are a reasonably new phenomenon, we not only analyse data from the patients who have received blood products from our own team, but are actively involved in research on a national scale, to evidence what protocols, products, practices, policies and procedures give our patients the best chances of survival. This year, DSAA will join nine other air ambulance charities as part of a national trial, to determine whether giving whole blood (containing red cells, plasma and platelets all together) improves a patient’s chance of survival. We will be sharing more information on this in due course.

Thank you Some of our clinical team remember the days when DSAA did not carry blood and the helplessness they felt, as patients died in front of their eyes due to blood loss. Thankfully, this is now becoming a rare occurrence. On behalf of all the patients we have treated with a transfusion and the many more that will need this in the future, we thank everyone that is involved with making it happen. 11

WHAT WE DO

An expansion in advocacy for children Since 2020, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) has been formally supporting the time-critical inter-hospital transfer of children across the region. This has been achieved not by chance, but though collaboration, innovation and years of hard work Background Within the South West and Wessex regions of England, critically ill and injured children receive specialist care within two centres: Bristol Children’s Hospital and Southampton Children’s Hospital. The transport of seriously ill and injured infants and children within these regions is co-ordinated by specialist paediatric critical care transport teams: WATCh (Wales and West Acute Transport for Children Service) and SORT (Southampton Oxford Retrieval Team). Injured children in the South West are jointly managed by the trauma team leader (TTL) at Bristol Children’s Hospital and WATCh. Clinicians within local acute hospitals refer patients to WATCh, the TTL at Bristol Children’s Hospital and SORT for decision support and inter-hospital transport.

Regional challenges of time-critical transport of ill and injured children Every year, a small proportion of critically ill and injured children in the South West who are referred to WATCh 12

or SORT, have time-critical emergency specialist care needs. Any delay in reaching the appropriate specialist care reduces the chance of a good outcome for the child. In these time-critical cases, the transport of the child is often performed by the referring hospital themselves rather than the WATCh or SORT specialist paediatric transport teams. To do this, the referring hospital needs to utilise a local critical care team, often a consultant anaesthetist and skilled assistant from the hospital, which can leave them significantly understaffed.

An expansion in advocacy for children In 2016, the charity realised that our helicopter based critical care service, set up for immediate response and staffed with a critical care practitioner and doctor, could support time-critical, inter-hospital paediatric transfers, by working in collaboration with the regional paediatric transport services. With this in mind, we began to upskill our team with the aim of developing them to objectively have the critical care competencies required of the Intensive Care Society and Paediatric Critical Care 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

WHAT WE DO

“This innovative and collaborative project was the first of its kind in the UK.” Society (PCCS) transport standards. This was achieved by using a blended approach of hospital placements within paediatric critical care units, formal lectures and simulation days by specialist paediatric transport team consultants and nurses. We also upgraded some of our equipment, such as ventilator software, to ensure they were suitable for paediatric and neonatal patients. The development programme continued for four years, to ensure that our clinicians gained significant exposure to paediatric critical care environments and had fully consolidated this into their team-based practice. In April 2020, when our practitioners and doctors reached the competency required and our service met the national standards, a formal review was made by the clinical leads for SORT. This comprised a full governance review, site visit, review of equipment and resources and a review against the PCCS 2015 standards. Following this, DSAA began formally supporting SORT with time-critical inter-hospital paediatric transfers at their request. In October 2020, DSAA and SORT presented our work at the PCCS’s national conference. The response was positive, with attendees engaged and supportive. Encouragingly, a request was made during the conference for the development of guidance standards. Following this, DSAA worked in collaboration with the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASfT), WATCh and SORT, the South West Paediatric Critical Care Network, South West Paediatric Major Trauma Network, Severn Major Trauma Network and Peninsula Major Trauma Network, to produce clear standards for Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) teams involved with time-critical inter-hospital paediatric transport. These were based on the PCCS 2015 inter-hospital transport standards and were agreed by all three South West networks and SWASfT in January 2021. These generic regional standards enable other HEMS services in the region to develop a similar capability. Following a site visit and full governance review by the WATCh clinical leads in September 2020 and subsequent demonstration by DSAA of compliance with the regional network standards in January 2021, our time-critical inter-hospital paediatric transfer service to the South West region was expanded in support of both WATCh and SORT. To date, DSAA has provided 15 time-critical paediatric transfers at the request of WATCh (6 cases) and SORT (9 cases), which has enabled children with severe head injuries, spontaneous intracerebral bleeds, burns and abdominal emergencies, to be safely transferred from local hospitals to the regional children’s hospitals in Southampton and Bristol for emergency surgery and ongoing intensive care. This has been in addition to our @dsairambulance

Transportin g Your Child

Images: Nurse

Dotty Books

A leaflet incl uding inform ation about provided to care your child b y Dorset an Somerset A d ir Ambulance

Our support leaflet and bravery certificate use characters from the ‘Nurse Dotty’ books, by Molly Watts

pre-hospital critical care activity and regional timecritical inter-hospital adult transfer service, at no cost to the hospital, patients or their families. DSAA continues to be compliant with the most recent Paediatric Critical Care Society (PCCS) Transport Standards released in October 2021. This service continues to develop in collaboration with WATCh and SORT and is going from strength to strength.

Supporting documents for patients and their families A support leaflet and bravery certificate provides information on what patients and their families can expect if a child needs to be transported by our team. The bravery certificate uses child friendly characters that were kindly created by Molly Watts, author of the brilliant ‘Nurse Dotty’ books.

National recognition This innovative and collaborative project was the first of its kind in the UK and won ‘Innovation of the Year’ at this year’s Air Ambulances UK Awards of Excellence. It demonstrated, among many other things, that the air ambulance community, hospital community and regional networks can achieve substantial collaborative improvements in networked patient care under NHS governance. More information on DSAA’s success at this year’s Awards of Excellence can be found on page 32.

Thank you On Christmas Day 2020, 13-year-old James Clark benefited from our time-critical inter-hospital paediatric transfer service. James’s family tell us more on page 20. 13

WHAT WE DO

View from the cockpit Our Unit Chief Pilot, Mario Carretta, shares an insight into what happens when our AW169 aircraft (Pegasus, aka Peggy) goes for maintenance and the move to having co-pilots as part of our operations Aircraft maintenance Just like when a car needs a regular service, Peggy needs a prolonged maintenance period every year, or after 400 flying hours, whichever comes sooner. Normally, Wayne Busby, our resident Engineer, carries out routine work in our hangar at Henstridge. However, for more in-depth maintenance, the aircraft is flown to Gloucestershire Airport (Staverton) where our aircraft operators, Specialist Aviation Services (SAS), are based. While Peggy is away, SAS provides us with a replacement aircraft. This has recently changed from the provision of an MD902 to an AW169, just like Peggy, which means we can provide the exact same level of service throughout the year. At Staverton, the majority of the aircraft’s panels are removed so that a detailed 14

inspection can be made of the aircraft’s structures and components. Repairs and replacement of faulty items can then be made. Improvements are continually being made to the design of the aircraft, so during these maintenance periods, the opportunity is taken to bring the aircraft up to the latest modification standard. At the time of writing, Peggy is at Staverton and midway through its work package. With the inspections almost complete, work has now commenced to introduce a number of software and hardware changes to bring it up to the latest ‘Phase 6.0’ standard. As well as removing some minor, but irritating nonetheless, software bugs, Phase 6.0 also provides some improvements in aircraft control throughout the speed range. When Peggy returns, some of the more observant of 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

WHAT WE DO Peggy undergoes her annual maintenance at Specialist Aviation Services in Staverton, Gloucestershire

you will notice a change to the air intakes, as the standard mesh grills are being replaced by Engine Air Particle Separators (EAPS). We have been operating the AW169 for over four years now and the engine manufacturers, Pratt & Whitney, have noticed a faster than expected engine performance degradation over time. This has been put down to the fact that we often have to land on beaches or areas where dust or fine debris can be picked up in the downwash and sucked into the engine, causing premature wear of critical components. The mesh grills are only designed to stop large pieces of debris from entering the engine intake, but by replacing the grill with an EAPS panel, the engines will be much better protected and so will maintain the required performance for longer. Each EAPS panel has a large number of centrifugal tube separators, through which the air passes. Particles are then extracted from the air by centrifugal force, allowing only filtered air to enter the engine, and the particles are then ejected by fans from tubes beneath the EAPS panels. Once the maintenance period is complete and Peggy is put back together, it will go through a comprehensive @dsairambulance

series of ground and air tests to check that everything is functioning as expected before it is returned to us for duty.

Co-pilots For over 20 years, DSAA has operated as a single pilot operation. However, in 2021 a decision was made to introduce co-pilots on safety grounds, due, in part, to the increased level of operations at night. With this in mind, five new co-pilots have now joined us with varying levels of experience. They are now fully embedded into our rosters and have fitted in seamlessly. Mark Howard-Smith, Jack Cook and Dan Volpi were SAS employees and already have AW169 and Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) experience with other air ambulance charities. Hannah Nobbs and Tom Gee have joined us just after completing a SAS sponsored AW169 type rating and have no previous exposure to HEMS. Hannah and Tom have a lot of hard work ahead of them, as they first get to grips with day operations before moving onto night operations using night vision goggles later in the year. You can read about Hannah’s journey on page 16. 15

WHAT WE DO

A flying dream for Hannah Hannah Nobbs is one of our new co-pilots. Her journey to this point has been an interesting one, with Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) playing a significant part. Over the past eight years, Hannah has been a volunteer for the charity, both on the fundraising side and then subsequently as a trustee. She shares her story, in the hope that it shows with hard work, determination, support and a bit of luck, a seemingly impossible dream can come true didn’t grow up wanting to fly, in fact I started secondary school wanting to be an actress, journalist, vet and a diplomat (simultaneously)! But a visit to the International Helicopter Museum at Weston-super-Mare as a teenager sparked an interest in helicopters that has grown ever since. A trial lesson in a small two-seat helicopter for my 16th birthday was intended to get it out of my system, but you’ve guessed it, I was hooked! Deciding I wanted to fly was the easy bit, gaining the required qualification and experience to be able to fly in a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) role was more tricky. It was soon apparent that the military route was not an option, because I wore glasses and would not pass the initial military pilot medical. The costs of training as a civilian pilot are incredibly high and I quickly realised that to fly professionally was likely to remain a dream. During my A-levels, when presented with a list of university courses in alphabetical order, I got as far as “A”

I

16

for Aerospace Engineering, which seemed as good a way as any of becoming part of the world of aviation. Four years of study later, I left the University of Southampton as an Aerospace Engineer. It was after visiting an air show that I first saw someone do aerobatics in a tiny helicopter. I didn’t realise it at the time, but the Pilot, Dennis Kenyon (who could make a machine that looked like it was made of Meccano dance gracefully through the air) would become a lifelong friend and mentor who changed my life. An announcement over the tannoy informed the crowd that the Dennis Kenyon Junior Memorial Scholarship was open for applications, for a fully funded helicopter Private Pilot’s Licence. The scholarship had been set up in memory of Dennis’s son who had tragically died in a helicopter accident. It was a long process of a written application, interview and aptitude test, but I made it through and completed my licence in the summer of 2005. This was a fantastic opportunity to be able to fly, but the cost of keeping the licence current 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

WHAT WE DO was so high that within a few years, despite much support from friends and family, I was no longer able to fly often enough to use the licence. It was AgustaWestland (now Leonardo) that brought me from Essex to my adopted home in the west country. Following my graduation, I applied for a role in the helicopter preliminary design department in Yeovil. There, I worked on concept designs for heavy lift helicopters and tilt rotors. It was an exciting role and gave me an opportunity to work in Cascina Costa on a brand new helicopter, known then as the “special project, XX9”. This was to become the AW169, an aircraft specifically aimed at the market for HEMS. I remember the numerous discussions as to how many rotor blades the aircraft would have, whether it would have wheels or skids, where the fuel tanks would be located etc. There were many hours spent with HEMS professionals to develop the requirements and several more hours with wooden mock-up models in a shed on site to try out different cabin layouts and methods of loading patients. After the initial part of the project, I stayed in Italy to work in the rotors department as a structural analyst, developing a blade design for a European tilt rotor aircraft. I then returned to Yeovil to continue with design certification analysis and testing for the AW189, which is now used by the UK Coastguard. It was during my time working in Yeovil that I started volunteering for DSAA, giving talks and presentations to interested groups and helping at events such as the Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge. I became more and more interested in the charity and how it was governed. Several years later, I started serving as a trustee. I continued this role when I left AgustaWestland to work for the RNLI in their Innovation Team on the future life-saving programme, exploring the use of drones for Search and Rescue. Since DSAA was formed, it has operated as a single pilot operation and there are very few other helicopter operators in the west country. So, with a limited opportunity to fly where I was based, I took a role with the Civil Aviation Authority in West Sussex. The role was an exciting one – to develop regulations to enable commercial spaceflight from the UK. What it also meant was that while I was working full-time I could be near an airfield, finish chipping away at the 14 written theory exams and build the flight experience needed to start the commercial course.

@dsairambulance

Hannah dressed up as DSAA mascot Dasher when she was a volunteer

Hannah in her role as a Trustee for the charity

During this time, (and this is the luck in timings), some air ambulances began flying with two pilots, meaning that a co-pilot role could be a possible opening into the exciting world of HEMS, if I could complete my commercial licence. But – and there is always a but – co-pilots would need an instrument rating. This is a qualification that enables pilots to fly a helicopter in cloud, only using instruments to know where they are. This course is cripplingly expensive because although 40 hours of training can be done in a simulator, a minimum of 10 hours is required in a twin turbine engine helicopter, at an average cost of about £1,400 per hour. I now had my commercial licence and the Civil Aviation Authority were supportive of me taking a period of unpaid leave to do the course. It was now GO BIG or GO HOME! I was delighted to be awarded a scholarship from the British Women’s Pilot Association towards the course and the rest was funded by a loan against my house and a loan from my family. I found the initial instrument rating course the most difficult so far. During the course, an advert for DSAA co-pilots went out and I applied. I was interviewed and then assessed in a simulator before finding out that all my efforts were worth it. I was offered one of the co-pilot roles, however, it was conditional on the completion of the instrument course. Obviously, this was a massive motivation to finishing the course, but definitely added to the test nerves. A month into being an operational member of the crew and after three months of training to learn to fly the AW169, I have finally had chance to pause and realise that this is now real. I have already learnt a huge amount; mostly that there is so much, much, more to learn and I have loved every single second. It has been a huge privilege to work with such an amazing crew and be able to serve the community of Dorset and Somerset that welcomed me many years ago. There are not many people that get the chance to fly an aircraft they have helped to develop, so it is extra special to me that Peggy is now my colleague. 17

Advertise in Beeline! If you would like to advertise in the nextwe’re issue We do what of Beeline contact our We have staff We publishing have well well trained trainedpartners: staff at at hand hand to to help help all all ladies of all ages from juniors to seniors with

We do what we’re ca ladies of all ages from juniors to seniors with every every sort sort of of underwear. underwear. The The Elderly Elderly -- Other Other stores stores seem seem to to have have forgotten that certain age lady. forgotten that certain age lady.

01225 331023 01225 331023 We We still still sell sell good good old old fashioned fashioned vests vests and and pants pants [email protected] plus thermals, stockings, petticoats, bedjackets, [email protected] thermals, stockings, petticoats, bedjackets,

warm warm nightwear, nightwear, bedsocks, bedsocks, dressing dressing gowns. gowns. You You name it we’ve got it! name it we’ve got it!

The The Perfe Perfe

Med Med for for uu

Mast Mast and and pock pock to to ta ta

TT EEAA TT GGRR OOUU AA AAYY DD

THE BOWOOD ESTATE

Bowood has been home to the Lansdowne Family since 1754 and is set in stunning ‘Capability’ Brown parkland, only 5 miles from the centre of Calne.

Lingerie Lingerie for for All All Occasions Occasions

Bowood House is among the most unique places to visit in Wiltshire and Bowood Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort boasts an award-winning Spa and PGA Golf Course.

Westons Westons Visitor Visitor Centre Centre

Perfect Fit supplies all aspects

Perfect Fit supplies all aspects Westons Cider has been making cider in the Herefordshire of underwear for the young Westons hasMarcle, been making ciderJoin in the Herefordshire village ofCider Much since 1880. a mill tour and of underwear for the young village of Much Marcle, since 1880. Join a mill tour and to the mature lady. go behind the scenes to discover how your favourite cider to the mature lady. go behind the scenes to discover how your favourite cider is produced. Sample cider and perry in the shop or enjoy is produced. and perryHouse in theRestaurant. shop or enjoy homemadeSample food incider the Scrumpy Specialists in measuring homemade food in the Scrumpy House Restaurant. Specialists and fitting. in measuring l Cider Mill Tours - 11.00am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm and fitting. l Cider Mill Tours - 11.00am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm l Cider Shop and FREE Tasting (over 18’s only) Sizes AAA - K & L 28” - 50” back l Cider Shop and FREE Tasting (over 18’s only) l Scrumpy House Restaurant and Bottle Museum Tea Room Sizes AAAof-all K& L 28”brands. - 50” back Stockists major l Scrumpy House Restaurant and Bottle Museum Tea Room Stockists of all major brands. l Located on the A449 between Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye l Located on the A449 between Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye l Open 7 days weekus for the House & Gardens with its Children’s Adventure Playground, beautiful Whether youa visit l Open 7 days a week grounds and historic house or our Hotel for a luxury break, dining experience or a round of golf, Call 01531 660108 or visit www.westons-cider.co.uk Bowood is an unforgettable destination for all. 48/50 Temple Street, Keynsham Callfor01531 660108 or visitand www.westons-cider.co.uk further information to arrange your visit. 48/50 Temple Street, Keynsham for further information and to arrange your visit. Westons Cider, The Bounds, Much Marcle,

To findCider, out – please Ledbury, Herefordshire, HR8 Much 2NQ Westons Themore Bounds, Marcle, visit our website: T: 01531 Herefordshire, 660108 Ledbury, HR8 2NQ BOWOOD.ORG E: [email protected] T: 01531 660108 E: [email protected]

01179 Bowood860950 House & Gardens: 01249 812 102 01179 860950 Bowood Hotel: 01249 822 228 www.perfectfi t.uk.com www.perfectfit.uk.com

Let Let Per Per 48/ 48/ Key Key Op Op

WHAT WE DO

A note from our Chair Our Chair of Trustees, Gillian Bryce, looks back over the past six months here cannot be many of us, if any, whose lives have not been affected over the past two years by the effects of COVID-19 and its various mutations. However, we have adapted, adjusted and reevaluated what is important to us. The importance of air ambulance services to the communities they serve is now understood and appreciated by the health care sector as never before. As we move towards the “new normal”, it is clear the service we deliver will continue to be in demand. Within this edition of Beeline, you will read details of our success in this year’s Air Ambulances UK Awards for Excellence. These are awards for air ambulance services which are equivalent to the Oscars and I think I can say that Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance swept the board. With 21 air ambulance services competing in ten categories, we were shortlisted as finalists in five and came out winners in three. This is outstanding recognition of the hard work of our team and demonstrates the excellence of patient care that the charity provides; all of which, you help to fund! I would like to record my personal congratulations to everyone involved and say how proud and honoured I am to contribute to such an excellent organisation. The Board of Trustees are currently facing its biggest

T

@dsairambulance

challenge since I joined almost nine years ago – how to replace the irreplaceable. Sadly, our excellent Chief Executive Officer, Bill Sivewright, is retiring in June, so we are currently recruiting to find someone new to take up the reigns and lead the charity into the future. Bill will be an exceptionally hard act to follow, but I am hopeful that there will be a lot of interest in the position and that we can appoint a first-rate individual in due course. Bill’s outstanding contribution to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and the air ambulance community over the last 11 years, was also recognised at this year’s Awards of Excellence when he was awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. You can read more about this on page 33. Hopefully, the coming months will see a return to normal and opportunities to gather and celebrate with friends and family are on their way. Final plans are in place for our Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge, which takes place on Sunday 15th May and we would love to see you at the start or finish line, as we celebrate some incredible achievements on the day. Everyone within the charity knows that without your generous donations and the time which our volunteers donate every month, we would not be able to do what we do. Thank you so much for enabling us to help others. 19

OUR PATIENTS

“Things could have been very different”

James Clark was airlifted to Southampton Hospital on Christmas Day

Our time-critical inter-hospital paediatric transfer service has been running since 2020. Since then, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) has undertaken 15 transfers of time-critical children to specialist care centres across the South West. At 13 years old, James Clark was one of them t was Christmas morning in 2020. James woke up early being violently sick; it was black in colour. We immediately called an ambulance and James was rushed into St. Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight where we live. While he was in A&E, they quickly realised that he had a ruptured appendix and a potential bowel perforation. James has a heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot, which he had repaired at Southampton Children’s Hospital when he was little. He also has DiGeorge Syndrome; a condition that can cause a range of problems, including heart defects and learning difficulties. That is why he finds it difficult to express himself at times. James needed an urgent operation. He would also need monitoring on intensive care, both before and after the procedure (a service that St. Mary’s do not have for children on the Isle of Wight). The surgical team at Southampton were consulted and they wanted to perform the operation that evening. With the addition of no ferry services operating due to it being Christmas Day, the hospital team arranged for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance to come and collect James and transfer him by air. We were so relieved when Dr Phil Hyde and Critical Care Practitioner Matt Sawyer arrived, however, we were

I

20

terrified, as we knew that it was critical to get him to hospital on time. Together, they prepared James for his transfer; they were so caring and kind and explained everything they were doing. As only one person could accompany James on the aircraft, his dad Nicholas went with him. While in flight, they tried to keep James occupied by showing him things out of the window. The flight was extremely quick and once they arrived at Southampton, he was taken straight down to have a three- hour operation. I am so pleased to say that it was successful. Subsequent contact with Jo Petheram, DSAA’s Patient and Family Liaison Nurse, was really helpful. She followed up on James’s recovery and provided the names of the team that helped him. James remembers their kindness and he sent a card to them all to say thank you. Without the time-critical inter-hospital paediatric transfer service that Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance provides, things could have been very different. We can’t bear to think what could have happened without it and want to thank Phil, Matt and the amazing Pilot Mario Carretta who worked that day. DSAA is a truly life-saving service and you do such an amazing job; we will be eternally grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Sharon, Nicholas and James xxxx. 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

RIGHT: MALACHY PLANESPOTTING

OUR PATIENTS

“We feel truly humbled and grateful” In July 2020, DSAA airlifted Lily to Bristol Children’s Hospital. She and her mum Charlotte kindly share details of what happened and pay thanks to the crew that played a part in saving Lily’s life t was a Monday morning at the start of the summer holidays and I was next door babysitting, when I had a terrible headache and felt sick. A couple of hours later I was sick, so my mum took over the babysitting for me and I went home. I spoke to my dad who helped me get into bed and I went to sleep. That’s the last thing I remember, until about six weeks later. Apparently, when mum checked on me about an hour after I had gone to bed, she couldn’t get any response so my dad phoned for an ambulance. Three paramedics arrived and explained that they were going to call for the air ambulance. I was taken by ambulance to the nearby school field where the air ambulance met us. The crew on board (Dr James Keegan, Leonie Middle and Pilot Paul Nolan) made sure that I was safe to fly, reassured my mum and agreed that she could go with me in the helicopter. I was flown to Bristol Children’s Hospital, where they discovered that I had a ruptured arteriovenous malformation (AVM). At around six o’clock in the evening, I was taken into emergency surgery to relieve the pressure on my brain and spent approximately three weeks in intensive care. Following this, I spent six months on the neuro rehabilitation ward receiving physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and

I

@dsairambulance

support from the neuropsychology team. I had to learn to swallow, eat, talk and walk again. Unfortunately, I didn’t have many visitors at the time, as there were lots of restrictions in the hospital due to the pandemic, but thankfully my parents were able to stay in Bristol with me. My sister Bea also visited when she was allowed and we used FaceTime a lot. On 15th January 2021, I was discharged and managed to walk out of the hospital, which had been my goal. In May, I went to Southmead Hospital for surgery to remove the AVM. 18 days later, I made it into school for the final hour of Year 11, which felt amazing – and I also made it to my school prom!” Charlotte adds: “Throughout everything that Lily has gone through, she has remained positive and determined. After discharge from hospital, her fatigue and the threat of COVID meant that she didn’t get back into school. However, she worked hard at home and has achieved nine GCSEs and Lily is now back in school parttime studying for her A levels. The last year has obviously had a huge impact on our family, but we feel truly humbled and grateful to have received the care of both Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and the NHS. We really don’t know how to thank the people who literally gave us our family back. As a small token, Lily has sold plants that we have grown and her granny has also been busy knitting to raise funds for the charity. Our heartfelt thanks go to you all. Love Lily, Bea, Charlotte and Tim x.

The DSAA team that attended Lily’s incident were: James Keegan, Leonie Middle and Paul Nolan. Also in attendance from the Ambulance Service were: Brett Chard and Michael Worth. 21

OUR PATIENTS

“It really is a miracle they survived” Joe, Sam and Harry were involved in a serious climbing accident last year. Due to the severity of their injuries, two of the boys needed urgent pre-hospital care before being airlifted to hospital. Joe’s mum Emily and Harry’s family jointly share their story with us n Friday 19th March 2021, Joe, his close friend Sam and Sam’s older brother Harry, decided to go rock climbing for the day, choosing a disused quarry owned by the climbing association; a location and route they had climbed before. On their first climb of the day, Joe and Harry successfully completed a 30-metre climb and were pleased with their assent. Unfortunately, at the start of their descent something went wrong. They slipped and through a combination of tumbling and falling they reached the bottom of the rock face. Harry landed head first, suffering a serious head injury and multiple fractures. Joe fell feet first breaking his left heel, right ankle and back quite badly on impact. The force of the fall also caused his harness to tighten around him, resulting in a range of internal injuries, including a lacerated liver. Sam was at the bottom of the face waiting for the boys to descend. He not only witnessed the horrific fall, but then had the difficult task of contacting the emergency services while they were going in and out of consciousness and in considerable pain. Sam’s quick thinking, as well as the detailed information that he provided, enabled the emergency services to locate the

O

22

boys as quickly as possible. When they arrived, Sam went to meet them and guided them to the scene of the incident. He felt a huge sense of relief and gratitude that they were there to manage the situation. The ambulance service dispatched a number of resources to the scene, including an ambulance, BASICS doctors, the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. This included a fire engine from Shepton Mallet, an aerial ladder platform from Bath and specialist rescue teams from Bridgwater. A specialist rescue team was also dispatched from Trowbridge after the incident commander arrived at the scene. The crews worked together to formulate a plan and extract the boys safely from the quarry. Both Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) and Wiltshire Air Ambulance were tasked to the incident and communicated effectively with the other teams to manage the situation. Harry was attended to by DSAA; his airway had to be artificially maintained, the bleeding from his head stemmed and his deteriorating level of consciousness needed to be assessed; he was placed into an induced coma. Joe was treated by the crew from Wiltshire who assessed him, freed him from his harness and 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

OUR PATIENTS

administered pain relief. Both the boys were carried out of the quarry on spinal boards to the respective air ambulance helicopters, which had managed to land close by. Sam was described as walking wounded but was naturally left very traumatised from witnessing his brother and close friend fall, as well as witnessing their considerable injuries. A member of the Fire Service was exceptionally supportive of him, for which we are really grateful. Harry was airlifted to the major trauma centre at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, where he was managed in intensive care. He underwent neurosurgery to remove a blood clot and reduce pressure around the brain, followed by further surgery to reduce a fracture of the left cheek bone. In total, he was in hospital for 13 days and although Harry has made a remarkable physical recovery, he realises that this has been a life changing event for all involved. Joe was airlifted to Royal United Hospital Bath. However, following an initial assessment, he was then transferred to Southmead, where Harry had also been taken. He underwent an emergency operation to stabilise his back and various other operations to repair broken bones. Joe was in hospital for two weeks following all his surgery, before being allowed home to continue his recovery. As he had metal rods, screws and plates inserted into his back, ankle and heel, Joe spent two months in a wheelchair, non-weight bearing on both feet. After nine weeks, he progressed to using a boot and crutches, before starting intense physio. Miraculously, both boys left hospital within a few days of each other; an unexpectedly positive outcome! They have gone on to make remarkable progress and we are all incredibly relieved to see them both doing so well; it really is a miracle they survived. The combination of care that they received at the scene, together with a great @dsairambulance

Sam and Harry recovering after their rockclimbing accident

deal of surgical skill and a degree of luck, has certainly enabled them to make such positive recoveries. Meeting a child being delivered to hospital by air ambulance is an extremely traumatic and frightening experience. Due to the way the boys had fallen, they suffered a very different range of injuries. While Joe was being treated in Southmead, everyone was extremely conscious of the complex situation that Harry’s family were going through. He was in intensive care and we did not know what effect his injuries would have on his future or even whether he would survive. The situation was made even more difficult by the fact that the nation was still gripped by a total lockdown and visiting was severely restricted. Not being able to be at the boys’ bedside was extremely tough for everyone. The fantastic support that both our families received from DSAA’s Patient and Family Liaison Nurses, Kirsty Caswell and Jo Petheram, as well as the major trauma practitioner at Southmead Hospital, was invaluable, both during the early stages and once the boys were discharged from hospital. They helped us to understand what had happened, how Harry and Joe’s care would be managed, as well as making connections with the relevant hospital staff. We are hugely grateful for their care, support and advice. A subsequent visit to the air ambulance base enabled us to meet the crews involved in the rescue and understand more about the events of the day. We wanted to share our story to show how grateful we are for the work of the air ambulance teams and to illustrate the positive outcomes that can be realised from their work. Not only did they save Harry and Joe’s lives, but their decision making and the immediate treatment they administered at the scene, prevented further complications and longer lasting injuries for them both. The crews who rescued them were also the most inspirational, wonderful and supportive people that we have met. We are in awe of the work they do and eternally grateful to everyone involved in treating and caring for all three boys on the day.

The DSAA team that attended this incident were: Ian Mew, Steve Westbrook, Ben Channon and Kev Rutherford. Also in attendance from the Ambulance Service were: Luke Treharne, Jon Pavord, Hollie Dowling, Ryan Powell and Louise Cox. The team from Wiltshire Air Ambulance were: Joanne Gilbert, Adam Khan and Rob Collingwood. 23

OUR PATIENTS

“I thought we would lose him there and then” When Darren Pitman fell ill very suddenly, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance were tasked to help

24

n November 2020, my 44-year-old husband Darren left for work to go to his garage at East Lawn Farm in Gillingham. I also work at the garage part-time and when I arrived at about 1.00pm, Darren was having his lunch. It wasn’t long after that he told me he didn’t feel right; I thought that maybe he was just tired. He walked around the workshop and then returned to the office. Once again, he said that he felt weird, but struggled to explain exactly what was wrong. I immediately panicked, as I could see that something wasn’t right, but I had no idea what was wrong, or what I should do. After asking Darren to explain how he felt, he answered, “It’s like I am not really here… I feel like I am looking down.” At this point I was very concerned and called 999. The call handler told me that an ambulance would attend, but it could take up to two hours to arrive. I rang

I

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

OUR PATIENTS

“I was told that they were going to place Darren in an induced coma, as it was the kindest thing to do for his brain.”

When a brain tumour struck out of the blue, Darren found himself needing urgent medical attention

Pete, who occasionally works with Darren at the garage and luckily, he arrived within 10 minutes. At this point, Darren was sitting on a chair in the office and had become very quiet and a little disorientated. I said to Pete that I thought I should call 999 again and he agreed. During the second call, Darren was asked a number of questions; things like, could he raise his arms, could he repeat a sentence, could he smile? Very quickly (and while 999 were still on the phone), I saw Darren’s whole face twist to the left. He then went grey in colour, his eyes were rolling, he was fitting and there was blood coming from his mouth. Pete and I were terrified and had no idea what was happening. We stayed on the phone until the ambulance arrived, which I think was about 10 minutes. During this time, we had managed to get Darren on the floor as instructed. He was having continuous seizures and he didn’t regain consciousness at any time. To be honest, I thought we would lose him there and then! Two paramedics arrived in the ambulance and started treating Darren. By now, I was in a complete state of shock and panic. Soon after, the air ambulance landed in the field next to the garage. At that point, there were lots of people surrounding Darren doing various things @dsairambulance

and I was repeatedly told, “we are doing everything we can.” I was then told that they were going to place Darren in an induced coma, as it was the kindest thing to do for his brain. He would then be taken to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester for further investigations. We were incredibly lucky that there was an anaesthetist on board the air ambulance and he was able to treat Darren so promptly, otherwise the outcome may have been very different. Darren was taken to Dorchester and kept in an induced coma until the following afternoon. He was then brought round but had no memory at all of what happened, or where he was. The following day, having had a CT and MRI scan, we received the devastating news that he had a brain tumour. Luckily, it was low-grade and it looked like it was in a good place for surgical removal. This was a huge shock for both Darren and I and for our two teenage children, Maddi and Oscar. On 26th June, 2021, after long delays due to COVID, Darren finally had his surgery in Southampton Hospital. He was subsequently off work for approximately six weeks, but the procedure was successful and he has recovered well. We owe everything to the team at Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and can’t thank you all enough. It’s a service that we hope we will never need, but life can change within seconds and we were incredibly lucky that on that day, you were able to attend so quickly, efficiently and professionally, to help save Darren’s life.

The DSAA team that attended Darren’s incident were: Jeremy Reid, Lauren Dyson and Kev Rutherford. Also in attendance from the Ambulance Service were: Lee Martin, Naomi Rogers, Ffion White, Jane Watkinson and Jonathan Goddard. 25

OUR PATIENTS

“We will always be incredibly grateful” On 7th May 2020, Police Community Support Officer Mark Lane and his colleague Pete were cycling along a disused railway line (trailway). Pete was cycling in front when he suddenly heard a crash. He turned around to see Mark on the floor with no sign of life. Mark’s wife Leonie kindly tells us more… ix weeks into the first lockdown, Mark had a cardiac arrest out of the blue while out on police cycle patrol. Thankfully he was with a colleague, Pete, who swung into action to get the emergency services on their way. Within 30 seconds, an off-duty nurse and her husband appeared on scene and helped get CPR underway. Within another minute, an off-duty hospital doctor and his wife came along and took charge. Thankfully, it was busy that day along the trailway! The first I knew about the whole event was when a police officer knocked at my door. I was blue-lighted to Royal Bournemouth Hospital, but it was well over an hour before Mark arrived by ambulance. At the same time, the air ambulance was landing behind me on the helipad. I saw Mark being wheeled into A&E; he looked incredibly poorly, with tubes and wires protruding

S

26

from all over the place. An air ambulance critical care paramedic, also called Pete, took me to one side to say how grave Mark’s situation was, but how the whole team had worked on him to try to stabilise him; he had suffered multiple arrests by then. The hospital gave me a brief update and told me Mark had been taken to the Cath Lab, then they sent me home as I was unable to see him. Our two daughters were at home with us for lockdown, so we were able to comfort each other as we waited for news. A phone call that first night advised me that Mark was being transferred to St Thomas’ hospital in London, as he needed to be put onto an ECMO machine due to the start of multi-organ failure. St Thomas’s brought the machine to Bournemouth as Mark would not have survived the journey to London. He was in the Intensive Care Unit (ITC) in London for three weeks, but 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

OUR PATIENTS

“Six weeks to the day, Mark was brought home by the physio team, with friends and neighbours lining our road clapping and cheering.”

due to COVID-19 we were not allowed to visit. The only communication was via an iPad, one-way of course as Mark was in a coma. We spoke to him and recorded messages from family and friends to try to bring him round. After three weeks, Mark was stable enough to be transferred back to ICU at Bournemouth and we were allowed to see him by the lake in the grounds of the hospital. He was wheeled out in his ICU bed, and we were togged up in PPE, but it was so good to be able to see him. He looked so unwell and was fairly uncommunicative. @dsairambulance

Mark is on the road to recovery following his cardiac arrest

We had amazing support throughout this time from our church family, from a distance of course. We had meals delivered to our doorstep and enough flowers to open a florist shop! After almost five weeks, Mark began to be a bit more communicative and I was allowed to visit him for an hour a day on the ward and take him out to the lake in a wheelchair. I witnessed his first steps supported by physios on both sides. He has no memory of the first month and a bit, which is probably a good thing. Six weeks to the day, Mark was brought home by the physio team, with friends and neighbours lining our road clapping and cheering. It was certainly an emotional homecoming! Mark’s recovery was slow to start with, but he gradually built up the distance he could walk. His shoulders took several months of physio to recover and he has been left with a dropping right foot, which is helped by wearing a Boxia strap. His heart is working at reduced capacity and is well-managed by medication, and his in-built defibrillator/pacemaker provides reassurance. He has returned to work on reduced hours in an admin capacity, but sadly is no longer allowed to go out running. In July 2021 we were finally able to meet the air ambulance team who helped to save Mark’s life, accompanied by PCSO Pete. Jo Petheram, the charity’s Patient and Family Liaison Nurse arranged the visit. She has been a friendly and helpful contact right from the start and it was great to finally get to meet her on the day. We will always be incredibly grateful to each and every person who has been a part of this extraordinary story. 27

OUR PATIENTS

VIEW Leonie, Steph FROM & Jo Lane THE CREW: Jo Hernandez, Specialist Practitioner in Critical Care The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASfT) dispatched several resources to Mark’s incident, including DSAA’s outreach car and aircraft. The outreach car was being manned by Pete Appleby (Specialist Practitioner in Critical Care) and the crew on the aircraft were Dr Stewart McMorran, Jo Hernandez (Specialist Practitioner in Critical Care) and Pilot Max Hoskins. Pete Appleby arrived on scene just after the first ambulance. Advanced life support was ongoing and Mark had already been defibrillated a number of times, however, he was now in a non-shockable heart rhythm (pulseless electrical activity - PEA). Pete Appleby prioritised optimising Mark’s airway, while chest compressions and advanced life support were continued by the ambulance crews. Due to the challenging location and geography of the area, the aircraft landed some distance away from the incident site. The crew were met by a police response car who subsequently drove us to the scene. Mark was ventilated with high flow oxygen and his core temperature was monitored after insertion of an oesophageal core temperature probe. Intravenous access was gained and our LUCAS chest compression device was attached to his chest. Advanced life support drugs were administered and intravenous fluids were commenced. A blood sample was taken, in order to check his blood biochemistry and after a further 20 minutes, Mark developed a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). He was given a pre-hospital anaesthetic using ketamine and rocuronium in order to provide him with adequate sedation and paralysis following his ROSC. Anaesthesia continued 28

with a ketamine infusion, driven through a syringe driver via a peripheral vein. An arterial line was inserted into Mark’s radial artery, enabling the team to commence invasive blood pressure monitoring (a beat to beat reading of how well his heart was pushing). Mark’s invasive blood pressure reading was low, so an adrenaline infusion was commenced. An ECG demonstrated a large anterior ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (heart attack) therefore a plan was made to transport Mark to the local cardiac centre at Royal Bournemouth Hospital, so that he could receive prompt primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) in order to unblock the culprit coronary artery. The Fire Service drove their pickup vehicle down the gravel path to Mark’s side. He was carefully lifted onto the back of the truck accompanied by our team and driven slowly down the bumpy track, to the road where the ambulance was located. During this time, he suffered a further three cardiac arrests and was successfully defibrillated each time. In order to reduce the risk of further cardiac arrest, he was given sodium bicarbonate and magnesium sulphate intravenously, in an attempt to lower the electrical excitability in his heart. We accompanied Mark by road to Royal Bournemouth Hospital and subsequently to the Catheter Lab for his PPCI procedure. Within the Cardiac Centre, he had treatment to open up his coronary arteries. Despite this, his heart was still struggling and a team from St. Thomas’s Hospital in London came and placed him on a heart and lung bypass machine called ECMO. Mark was then transferred to London for ongoing ECMO support. It was so lovely to be able to meet up again and we are absolutely delighted that Mark has made such a good recovery.

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

OUR PATIENTS

“Day in, day out, they help all sorts of people” Kim Goodwin needed the services of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance when she was involved in a horse-riding incident. She pays thanks to those who helped her on that day had been out for a hack with my friend and was riding one of her horses called ‘Smiles’. We had just got back to the field, where there were some 8ft bales of straw that had recently been baled, so we decided to jump some of them. After a couple of jumps, Smiles caught her foot in the twine and somersaulted, throwing me off. Unfortunately, she landed on me and then trod on the left hand side of my chest when she stood up. My friend managed to get the horses back into the field, as I laid in the straw stubble face down. When she came back, I decided to turn myself over as I didn’t think that I had done any damage. I managed to do this, but then found it difficult to breathe, only being able to use short quick breaths. After asking her to do so, she removed my boots and chaps, as I didn’t want them to be cut off by the ambulance crew when they got there. When the land ambulance arrived, they were brilliant. Due to my injuries and the fact that I was in a field away

I

@dsairambulance

Kim was in intensive care for over a week after she fell from her horse while jumping bales of straw

from the road, I heard them call for assistance from the air ambulance. The crew arrived by helicopter and worked alongside the other paramedics to administer pain relief and get me ready for the flight to hospital. I don’t remember the flight itself, but I remember landing on the helipad at Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester. My injuries included numerous broken ribs, a punctured lung and a ruptured spleen. I was in intensive care and high dependency for just over a week and then on a ward for 10 days, before going home to recover, which took a further 8-10 weeks. I am now minus my spleen and although I had a horrific ordeal that day, it didn’t stop me from riding, eventing, show jumping and doing dressage. I think the land ambulance and air ambulance crews do an amazing job. Day in, day out, they help all sorts of people and don’t get the recognition they deserve. So, from me and Smiles, we would like to say a massive thank you for being there for us that day! 29

IAN BOUCHER

OUR PATIENTS

“I placed my trust in the amazing air ambulance team” Angela Jarrett received the call that every mother fears; that her daughter Issy had been involved in a head-on road traffic collision ssy is 17 and was a passenger in a head-on road traffic incident, which took place last October. I was called by the driver of the car behind, to say what had happened. Luckily, I track my children’s phones, so I knew where she was. Issy’s stepdad drove us to the scene, where she was still in the car being cared for by the paramedics. The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) was landing as we arrived. They quickly assessed Issy and were concerned that she had a possible fractured pelvis and internal bleeding. I was stood behind the barrier and was approached by Dr James Keegan (the air ambulance doctor). He explained that Issy would be flown to Southmead Hospital in Bristol. He said that unfortunately there wasn’t room for me to fly as well, but that they would take really good care of her. Issy was very distressed, so they administered plenty of pain relief. While they were placing her in a hip brace, a female member of the crew called me over so I could speak to her before they left. I then swapped over with her stepdad, so he could do the same. And so, that’s where I placed my trust in the amazing air ambulance team. I was told it would take them 10-15 minutes to get to Bristol, so we left immediately to get there by car… the longest drive ever! If you ask Issy now what she remembers, she says that although things are a bit hazy, she knows that a blonde lady stroked her head the whole way to hospital. She told her that she was ok and that I would be there at the

I

30

Issy sustained a number of broken bones and a seatbelt wound after her traffic incident

other end. I am eternally grateful to her for being “mum” to my little girl when I couldn’t be there. We spent seven hours in Southmead Hospital. Issy had CT scans and x-rays, which thankfully showed that her pelvis was intact and no major internal bleeding was found. The trauma consultant said that she was a really lucky girl and although she had broken both her feet and arm, and had a lot of bruising and swelling, she would make a full recovery in time. We left Bristol at 5.30am the next morning. Driving home, it didn’t feel real that she was ok and coming home with us. It was short lived though, as we just couldn’t get the pain under control, so we spent the next 24 hours being cared for by my wonderful work colleagues on the paediatric ward at Musgrove Park Hospital. Since then, there have been ups and downs. Issy has had surgery on her tummy, due to the seatbelt wound, followed by five weeks of Vac therapy to help close the wound. She may need further surgery on her abdomen, depending on how that heals. The team at Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance were incredible. Thank you will never be enough!

The DSAA team that attended Issy’s incident were: James Keegan, Jo Hernandez, Amy McGuffike, and Mario Carretta. Also in attendance from the Ambulance Service were: Holly Steer, Thomas Adams, Robert Thompson, Rachel Moakes, Jonathan Dyer, Hannah Brown, Mirielle May and Olivia Cable (student). 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

OUR PATIENTS

More thankyous from our patients… They were absolute stars

My heroes

While out walking in Duncliffe Woods last Thursday, I fell and broke my leg. Having phoned 999, my husband was told that it would be hours before an ambulance would be with us, due to the volume of throughput. I had heard my leg crack and I was in agony. The ambulance service kept updating us on progress and then called to say that Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance was on its way. I cannot begin to explain my admiration for you guys; I was on a steep slippery slope and the crew joined hands underneath me, before carrying me down to where my nephew had parked his vehicle. Quite apart from the effort that the team put in to get to me in the first place, they administered pain relief which really helped. They were absolute stars and I cannot thank them enough for their attention. I missed out on the flight to hospital, as a land ambulance arrived just as I was strapped in. I really hope that everyone’s backs were ok the next day. Thank you once again, Jenni Ward.

I just wanted to drop you a line to say thank you so very much for saving me, after I was kicked in the head by a horse. I was unconscious (encapsulated swelling on my brain and damage to my parietal lobe). I’m afraid I don’t remember the names of those who helped me, but you flew me to hospital very quickly and also landed keeping the horses safe.  I was looking at two of my three young sons asleep just now. If you hadn’t picked me up that fateful day, then there is a strong possibility that two of my sons would never have been born and that my eldest son wouldn’t have a mum anymore. Pretty mind-blowing (no pun intended) when you look at it that way!  My accident was about 12 years ago. Recovery took a while, but I’m fully recovered now. However, not a week goes by that I don’t remember what you all did for me. I will always support your incredible work, spread awareness and fundraise. Thank you for being my heroes and for keeping me here for my sons. With heartfelt thanks, Rhys. 

So grateful for their care I am writing to pass on my very sincere gratitude, for the help and care given by your team on Friday morning when I broke my leg. The two medics who attended to me at a campsite were just so wonderful, in what was a very stressful situation for my family. I am so grateful for their care; they really helped with pain control and put my leg in a splint. I was completely panicking before they arrived. I eventually had an operation on Monday and I am now recovering. We do hope to do some fundraising for the charity when I am better and able to walk again. Many many thanks, I cannot express enough how much difference it made having you there. Karen Bates.

A massive thank you I just want to say a massive thank you to the team that scooped me up and took me to Salisbury Hospital on Sunday, after my motorcycle accident on the Ox Drove. Due to trees being down on the lane, there was no way for an ambulance to get to me. Thankfully nothing was broken and with a few stones removed from my knee and some bad bruising, I am hobbling around again. Really appreciate how quickly you arrived and treated me. You guys are the best! Thank you so much, Tom Brigg.

Share your story Our sincere thanks go to the patients and families who have shared their story within this edition of Beeline. It is with thanks to them that we can not only highlight the incredible work of our team, but the many others who play a part in a patient’s chain of survival. If you have needed our service and would be happy to share your story with us, please get in touch by emailing: [email protected]

@dsairambulance

31

NEWS

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) was shortlisted as a finalist in five categories at this year’s Air Ambulance Awards of Excellence, which were held virtually on Friday 4th December 2021. Eventually coming out winners in three categories and highly commended in the others, the broad scope, high standard of service and the incredible motivation and professionalism of our people shone through

Air Ambulance Awards of Excellence PRACTITIONER OF THE YEAR Jo Petheram and Kirsty Caswell Jo Petheram and Kirsty Caswell (DSAA’s Patient and Family Liaison Nurses) were highly commended in the ‘Practitioner of the Year’ category. Through Jo and Kirsty’s exemplary efforts, patient and family liaison has become a central part of our clinical service. They have strengthened professional relationships by being familiar, present and earning trust. By attending multi-disciplinary meetings, presenting clinical cases and giving long-term patient feedback to hospital teams, they have demonstrated the benefits of our patient and family liaison service, not only to patient and families, but to our NHS colleagues. The accumulation of patients and families that Jo and Kirsty have helped over the past year alone is now having a significant benefit on many others. By identifying similar needs, they have created a solid peer support network and linked families together who have walked the same path. Together, they have facilitated these relationships extremely sensitively and in a protective and considered way for all involved. Jo and Kirsty are two incredibly inspiring women, who have both made an enormous contribution to improving patient pathways during the last year.

DOCTOR OF THE YEAR Dr Phil Hyde Dr Phil Hyde (DSAA’s Medical Lead) was awarded ‘Doctor of the Year’ after being shortlisted as a finalist in this exceptional high standard category. Phil’s selfless dedication to the service of patients is only matched by his incredible clinical knowledge and expertise. 32

Congratulations to our brilliant Patient and Family Liaison Nurses, Jo and Kirsty (above), who were highly commended

DSAA Medical Lead Dr Phil Hyde was awarded Doctor of the Year

He demonstrates daily his incredible skills as a physician, his dedication to every aspect of patient care and his absolute commitment to nurturing and developing skills in others. What makes Phil exceptional is what he has achieved for patients regionally and indeed nationally. Despite his punishing schedule as a paediatric intensivist in a major trauma centre and as a member of our clinical team during one of the busiest and most challenging years in living memory, Phil continues to push the envelope of what can be achieved for patients, particularly in the pre-hospital environment. His clear vision of how patient care works better if it is properly ‘joined up’ is the driving force behind some extraordinary achievements over the past 18 months.

SPECIAL INCIDENT OF THE YEAR Dr Stewart McMorran, Pete Appleby, Jo Hernandez and Max Hoskins Dr Stewart McMorran, Jo Hernandez and Pete Appleby (Specialist Practitioners in Critical Care) and Pilot Captain Max Hoskins were highly commended for a special incident they attended in May 2020, during the height of

Jo, Stewart, Pete and Max were highly commended for an incident that demanded an excellent chain of care 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

NEWS the COVID-19 pandemic. The incident demonstrated an astonishing chain of care, in order to achieve a wonderful outcome for a patient who suffered a cardiac arrest while cycling along a disused railway line. It also demonstrated excellent multi-agency working and collaboration between the police, fire, ambulance service and DSAA. This incident involved Police Community Support Officer Mark Lane. His wife Leonie and members of our critical care team share a detailed account of what happened on page 26.

adding a special rota to support national COVID-19 interregional critical care transfers.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Bill Sivewright The prestigious ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ was presented to our Chief Executive Officer, Bill Sivewright, for his outstanding contribution to the work of DSAA and the air ambulance community over the past 11 years. Bill’s inspiring leadership has enabled DSAA to become one of the most innovative and highly respected air ambulance charities in the country. His ethos of ‘we will only invest public funds if it has patient benefit’ is a legacy that he will leave when he retires in June. The capabilities of DSAA have increased extraordinarily during Bill’s time as CEO and the quality and range of clinical care provided to the population of the area has been utterly transformed. Across this rapid evolution, the charity has shifted to providing care to the most critically ill and injured patients outside of hospital in Dorset and Somerset and the broader South West; care which is normally only available inside hospitals. All this has been achieved collaboratively with regional health networks and within the clinical governance of the NHS. Bill’s passion to serve his community goes above and beyond by way of his commitments in a voluntary capacity. He spent four years as Vice-Chair and then Chair of the Association of Air Ambulances (now AAUK) and in November 2016 was presented with the ‘AAA Chairman’s Award’ in recognition for his extraordinary contribution to the development of air ambulances across the UK. Bill volunteers as Chair to the Governors of the South West Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust and is the voluntary director of the not-for profit community interest company called ‘PHEMnet CIC’, which provides the national database and portfolio system, enabling doctors to demonstrate to the General Medical Council that they fulfil the training standards to become consultants in pre-hospital emergency medicine.

INNOVATION OF THE YEAR A collaboration between DSAA, Southampton Oxford Retrieval Team (SORT), Wales and West Acute Transport for Children Service (WATCh) and Bristol Children’s Hospital Trauma Team Leaders, was awarded ‘Innovation of the Year’ for formally supporting the time-critical inter-hospital transfer of paediatric patients in the South West Region. The collaboration has led to an expansion in advocacy for children, enabling Helicopter Emergency Medical Service teams to formally support time-critical paediatric inter-hospital transport in the South West. The project is the first of its kind in the UK and demonstrates that the air ambulance community, hospital community and regional networks can achieve substantial collaborative improvements in networked patient care under NHS governance. You can read more about our time-critical, inter-hospital paediatric transfer service on page 12.

CHARITY OF THE YEAR The whole charity team at DSAA were highly commended in the ‘Charity of the Year’ category. Over the past 18 months, our small team of staff have come together with immense dedication, commitment and diversity, to ensure that the engine of the charity has kept going, throughout some of the toughest times we have seen. This involved creating innovative fundraising projects to offset the losses due to imposed restrictions on physical events and ensuring that our volunteers and supporters remained engaged and supported throughout. It also involved the whole team coming together to develop processes and procedures that would strengthen the charity and prepare us to ‘hit the ground running’ when restrictions were lifted. This was a critical part of supporting the heroic efforts of our clinical and operational crews, not only enabling them to maintain our 19-hour-a-day critical care service, but to increase their activity significantly, by

Our whole team was highly commended in the ‘Charity of the Year’ category, while outgoing Chief Executive Bill Sivewright won the very well-deserved ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award @dsairambulance

33

NEWS

New gift cards launched A Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) gift card makes a lovely, unique present for someone special - and raises money for a great cause at the same time t the end of November last year, we launched a brand-new range of gift cards in support of our work. There are four different gift card designs, which can be purchased for either £10, £25, £50 or £100. Each card has been designed with the work of our critical care team in mind and focuses on the different types of equipment and supplies that help them care for seriously ill or injured patients. ‘The Little Things’ gift card costs £10 and could help towards the cost of essential supplies used by our critical care team, when treating seriously ill or injured patients. The ‘Mine’s A Pint’ gift card costs £25 and could make all the difference, by helping towards the cost of a much-needed pint of blood for a critically ill or unwell patient. Each year, approximately 50 patients attended by DSAA need vital blood products to help them reach hospital alive. Having these blood products immediately at hand means the clinicians have an amazing resource to resuscitate patients who are suffering from severe trauma, or other conditions where large quantities of blood have been lost.  The ‘Let’s Snuggle Up’ gift card costs £50 and could help towards the cost of a Blizzard blanket to provide vital warmth and make a patient feel safe in their time of need. When a patient is critically unwell, reducing their exposure to the cold and preventing further heat loss plays an important part of their pre-hospital care. The DSAA critical care team use these Blizzard blankets to provide active warming and improve a patient’s medical condition on admission to hospital. They are 400% warmer than synthetic blankets and 150% warmer than down-insulated garments and bags. Finally, the ‘See The Stars’ gift card costs £100 and

A

These new gift cards can be purchased via the charity’s online shop

could help towards a pair of night vision goggles, to help light the way for the crew when they are working in the dark. When DSAA is tasked to incidents on the aircraft at night, the crew use special night vision goggles, which work by amplifying light and projecting pictures onto two small screens inside the goggles. The combination of using the night vision goggles, the night-optimised cockpit displays in the helicopter and the skills of the flight crew, means the team can continue to be there for patients during the hours of darkness. All proceeds raised from the sale of our gift cards will go towards our operational costs. They can be sent direct to the person who is purchasing them, to be personalised by themselves, or supporters can arrange for the card to be sent direct to the recipient after the purchase has been made.

Gift cards can be purchased via the charity’s online shop at: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/shop Alternatively, please call: 01823 669604 or email: [email protected] 34

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

In the community Some of the ways people have supported us recently

Tracy Stone held a Yard and Garden Sale, which raised £200!

Debbie Birtwistle, DSAA Community Fundraising Officer, was delighted to receive an amazing donation of £10,000 from AJN Steelstock Limited. What’s more, they have also pledged to match fund their staff’s fundraising efforts until July 2022.

Volunteer Des Curtis celebrated his 98th birthday and held a collection, which raised £100. Thanks to Sturminster & Hinton Angling Association for their donation of £1,100.

Thanks to The Freemasons Exmoor Lodge for donating a projector to the charity. Volunteer Gail Everett was delighted to accept this on our behalf. Our clinical team have been grateful to use the projector for their training and interviews.

Ross Huey from Dorset Farm Butchers raised over £1,000 from selling the catch from his fly fishing trips to raise funds for DSAA!

@dsairambulance

Thanks to Wells Lions Club, who donated more than 30 old mobile phones to DSAA, after learning about our recycling initiative. Debbie Birtwisle, DSAA Community Fundraising Officer, went along to collect them all!

35

In the community Some of the ways people have supported us recently

Pupils from Sixpenny Handley First School created their own donation envelopes with spectacular air ambulance designs on them and collected £146.83 for the charity.

Phil Ingleheart from Selwood Ltd’s Pump Rental Team in Weymouth organised a fantastic motorcycle ride-out, which started from Carthage Services and finished at Frontline Coffee in Portland. They raised £2,544.65, which included gift aid. Frontline Coffee launched their ‘Lift Off’ coffee brand in support of the UK’s air ambulance charities on the same day. Our fundraising and clinical team had a fantastic time.

Volunteers Gail Everett and Lin Reed were thrilled to attend Michael Grace’s Christmas Lights display, which raised £1,660.62. Bournemouth and District Women’s Bowling Association President, Lindsey Thyer, has been busy knitting and selling bees with a Ferrero Rocher hidden inside. Her latest efforts raised £26.65 and now brings the association’s fundraising total to £1,116.15. Critical Care Practitioner Steve Westbrook was delighted to attend the association’s coffee morning to pay thanks for their ongoing support.

Nutley Farm held their fantastic Christmas Lights and Reindeer Experience for the second year running and doubled their previous total, raising £10,362.05. Critical Care Practitioner Michelle Walker attended with her son Jack to enjoy the festivities.

The International Hedge Laying Competitors donated £4,517 following their competition.

36

A C Mole & Sons Accountants selected DSAA as their Charity of the Year and have so far raised £1,500 with a variety of activities. This included teaming up with Somerset Bakehouse to bake and sell delicious doughnuts, which members of our clinical team (Pete Appleby and Ben Channon) enjoyed.

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW PEOPLE HELP

Debbie and Kevin Francis held an amazing Christmas lights display at their house and raised £2,070.68.

Congratulations to Mark and Emma on recently getting married. Emma’s one wish for her big day was to arrive in a vintage tractor and trailer, and Alan Rawles was delighted to make this come true. Rather than asking for money, he asked for donations, which raised £100.

Over the past year, Greenslade Taylor Hunt have raised £6,531.49 through a mixture of fundraising activities, which included employees holding cake bakes, collections and taking part in the charity’s Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge. Fundraising Officers Alana Hardy and Sam Smith were delighted to accept the funds raised.

Susie Cutler raised £350 by recycling horse rugs. What a great and eco-friendly fundraising idea!

Taunton Racecourse raised £1,301.44 for DSAA at their ‘Twixmas’ meeting. DSAA Fundraising Officer Sam Smith was delighted to be able to attend on the day.

Long Sutton Golf Club held their annual charity golf day, supporting DSAA as their Charity of the Year. They held a bottle tombola, raffle, and ran three holes where players could bet, along with an auction that raised a massive £37,000 in total! DSAA Community Fundraising Officer Debbie Birtwisle was thrilled to accept the funds on the charity’s behalf.

@dsairambulance

Sherborne Golf Club, Seniors Section, held a Golf Open Day that raised £500. Volunteers Liz and George Wagland were delighted to hear all about the day and to accept the funds raised.

Staff from Northavon Group Ltd completed a challenging sponsored walk, raising £5,100 in aid of three charities. Volunteer Ken Hutton was delighted to meet them and to accept £1,700 on behalf of DSAA.

37

In the community Some of the ways people have supported us recently

Volunteer Ken Hutton was delighted to meet the Ladies Section of Orchardleigh Golf Club, after they raised an additional £928 as part of their Charity of the Year fundraising efforts. Their 2020/2021 fundraising total now stands at £2,223!

Wembdon Art Group raised £305 by selling fabulous paintings at their local village day.

Rotary Club of Wells raised £700 at their wonderful Mistletoe and Music Christmas Fair, then topped this up with further donations to raise £2,000! Community Fundraising Officer Debbie Birtwisle was delighted to attend on the day.

Adrian Greene raised a spooktacular £47.26, by holding a ‘Guess the Weight of the Pumpkin’ competition during Halloween.

Dan and Mark Warr-Extance held their amazing Christmas lights display and raised £6,224.81.

Volunteer Lady Elizabeth Tabor was delighted to be presented with a cheque for £250, raised at Wincanton Tea Dance.

38

Volunteers Colin Thomas and Stuart Bagg were delighted to meet members of Bridgwater Classic and Vintage Club and to accept £3,000 on behalf of the charity!

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW PEOPLE HELP

Sherborne Bowling club selected DSAA as their Bowls Dorset Charity of the Year for 2019-2021 and raised £2,310. Leanne Colverson, DSAA Community Fundraising Officer, went along to receive the funds raised.

Jolly Rogers Dorset raised £1,235.84 during their pirate weekend in Swanage. Volunteer Linda Hernandez went along on behalf of DSAA to say thank you.

St Nicholas Church of England Primary School held a memorial bench dedication service, to remember their much loved Teaching Assistant Miss Paige Steninger. DSAA was a charity close to Paige’s heart, so family and friends decided to hold a cake sale in aid of the charity, which raised £294.35. Critical Care Practitioner Neil Bizzell attended the service to pay thanks and share more information about the charity’s work.

Lady Elizabeth Mackenzie raised £3,116.94 at her open garden event. It was a pleasure for volunteers Susan and Terry Dredge to accept the cheque and to have the opportunity to visit the beautiful garden!

Thank you to DSAA Patient Pete Moxham, along with his fellow golf players from Wheathill Golf Club, for presenting £4,000 raised at their Golf Day to Volunteer Helen Jefferis.

Stand Against Speed 4 Bethany was set up in memory of Bethany Paige Adams, following a car crash in January 2012. After running the charity for nearly 10 years, the family decided to start the next chapter in their lives. They kindly donated £3,022.66, which was left over in charity funds, to help DSAA save lives. Volunteer Terry Small is pictured outside our Wellington office with the family. Thank you so much to Mark, Helen and Danielle Adams for such heartfelt support.

@dsairambulance

The Baker Arms have continued their fantastic support, by raising £1,752.40 at their 2021 Pheasant Fest. Volunteer Roger Ferre was delighted to receive the funds raised on our behalf.

Volunteer Ken Hutton was delighted to attend the annual Santa Dive at Vobster Quay, which raised £183.45 via its raffle.

39

HOW PEOPLE HELP

Help us save lives, £1 at a time Joining our Flight for Life Lottery is an inexpensive way to help raise vital funds - every £1 really does make a difference ur Flight for Life Lottery is the charity’s largest sustainable income stream. By taking part, our members have the possibility of winning one of our cash or consolation prizes each week, while also supporting our vital service. At present, there are 85,000 tickets being entered into the draw each week. The reliable and regular income that this provides enables us to plan for the future, so that we can help even more patients in the years ahead. If you are one of those who support us in this way, thank you so much. Our very first Flight for Lottery draw took place on 19th December 2000. It was drawn by TV presenter Jeremy Beadle at The Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth. Since then, a draw has taken place every week and the lottery has raised more than £50 million; an incredible figure, which has made such a difference to the service we have been able to provide. Each entry into the draw costs £1 per week and the easiest and most cost-effective way for us to collect these subscriptions is by direct debit. This method of payment gives the supporter time for reflection on their decision to support us and means that their payments will always be backed by the direct debit guarantee. Every new lottery member receives their own ticket or tickets; each contains six unique draw numbers. Every Friday, the five cash winners and 10 consolation prizes are randomly selected from the week’s paid-up members. You do not need to claim your prize as any winnings are paid automatically, either by BACS straight into your bank account, or sent by post. The results of each draw are shown on our website. To be able to consolidate the number of people playing a lottery, there is always a need to recruit new supporters. Most of our current membership will have joined the lottery after speaking to a member of our

O

Our canvassing team are vital in ensuring the ongoing success of our lottery

Last year, approximately £4.5 million was raised from ticket sales in our weekly lottery draw, with 2% spent on prizes, 8% spent on expenses and a fantastic 90% being used to fund the work of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, enabling us to make a difference to so many patients’ lives. During the year, on average, each ticket entered to each week’s draw had a 1 in 5,700 chance of winning a prize. 40

lottery canvassing team, either at their home, at a local supermarket, hospital, garden centre or an event that they are attending. We prefer to recruit new members this way, as by interacting with the public face-to-face, our canvassers can give an insight into the charity, explain how the lottery works, as well as being able to answer any questions the supporter may have. Our canvassing team are vital to the success of our lottery and although they are not directly employed by the charity, they do work exclusively for us. They are trained to be polite and non-intrusive, they will carry a photographic identity badge and wear Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance branded clothing, so they can be easily recognised and the public can be reassured they are genuine. We are always looking for new canvassers to join our team. So, if you are a great communicator and have sound people skills, this could be just the job for you. To express your interest, or find out more, please contact our Lottery Manager, Caroline Guy, by emailing: [email protected] or the canvassing manager at Lottery Fundraising Services, by emailing: [email protected]

How to join our Flight for Life Lottery If you are not currently playing our Flight for Life lottery and would like to join, simply complete the Lottery Direct Debit form located in the centre of this magazine and return it to us at: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Unit 3, Brook Road Industrial Estate, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 2BH. Alternatively, if you would like to pay by cheque, please call our lottery office on: 01202 849530 or email: [email protected] and they will be happy to help. Some of our current members also offer additional support by purchasing a second or subsequent lottery ticket, for which we are very grateful. Although we understand that not everyone is able to increase their donation at this time, if this is something you feel able to do, please contact the lottery office direct. 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

The results of our Grand Christmas Draw n addition to our weekly lottery, the charity holds two Grand Lottery Draws every year. These take place during the summer and at Christmas. Our 2021 Grand Christmas Draw took place on Thursday 23rd December.

I

We were once again astounded by the amount of support we received as a total of £144,978 of tickets were sold. With the approximate cost per mission equating to £3,000, this has potentially helped to fund 48 life-saving missions! Our congratulations go to all the winners and a big thank you to everyone who took part!

GRAND CHRISTMAS DRAW 2021 WINNERS £1,000   Mrs M. Pardoe, Poole (Ticket number 788767) £250      Mrs J. Turner, Hamworthy  (Ticket number 206103) £150      Mrs J. Martin, Weymouth (Ticket number 318959)  £125      Mr C. Nelson, Branksome (Ticket number 182182) £100      Mrs S. Williams, Ferndown (Ticket number 253232)

Our Grand Summer Draw 2022 Our next Grand Draw takes place on Thursday 7th July 2022. It really would be amazing if you could once again support us in this way. You can send any tickets you have back to the lottery office or purchase them direct by calling: 01202 849530 or emailing: [email protected]

Lottery gift vouchers The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Lottery gift voucher is a unique and worthwhile gift, suitable for any special occasion. The vouchers can be purchased in any denomination, depending on how many weeks you like to purchase in the lottery draw. They can either be delivered to you, or directly to the recipient. Please contact our lottery office to find out more.

Have you won? If you have ever won a prize in our weekly lottery or grand summer draw, we would love to hear from you! Tell us how you felt and what you decided to spend your winnings on. You could even send us a celebration picture! Simply email us via: [email protected]

The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Lottery is registered with the Gambling Commission www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk Registration No. 000-004838-N-100338-013 and is also a member of the Lotteries Council. Players must be 16 or over. @dsairambulance

41

HOW PEOPLE HELP

A wonderful Coast to Coast After nearly a two-year break, our fantastic Coast to Coast cycle event was back and kicked off Air Ambulance Week 2021 fter having to cancel our Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge in May 2020 due to the pandemic and then having to postpone the event in May 2021, we were so delighted that it eventually went ahead on Sunday 5th September, to kick start Air Ambulance Week. Due to the change of date, our normal starting point of Watchet Harbour was not available, so the 55-mile route started from Washford Cross Park and Ride in Watchet. A shorter 11-mile route started at the Royal Oak public house in Drimpton. Both routes finished, as normal, in the beautiful Dorset seaside resort of West Bay. Those who took part included former patients who had experienced our life-saving work first-hand, others cycled in memory of loved ones, as a personal challenge, or as a team. At 82 years young, Brian Dale was the oldest participant completing the 55-mile route. He beamed as he crossed the finish line and said: “This event is wonderful! A couple of the hills were a handful, but fortunately I got towed along at times by some of the groups, which was very handy. I took part about four years ago; it really is a brilliant event and everything on the day was perfect.” It was an emotional finish for Andrew Studley, who completed the 55 miles after having an operation to remove an acoustic neuroma (a type of brain tumour).

A

42

Andrew Studley had an emotional Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge, having recovered from a brain tumour

He said: “On 1st June last year, I was unable to walk after having the operation. This has been a big thing for me; I have trained a bit over the past month and it’s my first big ride of the year. When I went through my home town of Drimpton and saw my mum, dad and girlfriend there, it was super emotional. It was brilliant and I loved it.” Bill Sivewright, our Chief Executive Officer, praised everyone involved and said: “This year’s event was very special and many of the riders expressed their gratitude to the charity for making it happen. Having an event that attracts such an amazing range of people taking part, seems entirely appropriate for a service that is there for anyone who needs us. As ever, we are incredibly grateful to all the riders who took on the challenge and to those who sponsored them on their quest. I have to say a huge thank you to the small army of volunteers who made the whole day possible and to our event sponsors, pit stop locations, local councils and the Police and Ambulance Service for their support in helping to make the day such a success.”

Our next Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge takes place on Sunday 15th May 2022 and reverts to the usual starting point of Watchet Harbour! We’d love to see you at the start, en-route at one of the pit stops, or at the finish line celebrations at West Bay. We can’t wait to see you there! 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW PEOPLE HELP

Tony’s birthday gift to us Volunteer Jean Hutton was delighted to attend a cheque presentation just after the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Tony Diment had kindly asked for donations to the charity instead of receiving presents. Jean wrote the following, after a lovely visit… t was the first cheque presentation that we had been able to attend since the start of the pandemic and what a joy it was. My daughter Emma and I were greeted by a sea of well-spaced smiling faces when we arrived at the Halstock Village Hall. Mr Tony Diment presented us with £570, which his friends and relatives had raised in celebration of his 80th birthday. Further donations had been sent direct to the charity, which meant the total received was £600. Sunlight shone into the hall as we enjoyed coffee and Tony’s homemade rock cakes! Conversations about the value of the air ambulance and the appreciation people felt for the service was buzzing; circulating a warmth and positivity which was so uplifting, at a time when so much despair and negativity is pervading our world. Emma and I were happy to share some information about Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA), which

I

@dsairambulance

reminded us of the privilege and rewards that come with being volunteers. It was humbling when one gentleman said with moving sincerity, “Thank you for all the work you do. The air ambulance saved my son’s life.” I couldn’t point out quickly enough just how little I do. Then, when the charming young vicar, with a smile that seemed to be lit by a halo, told us to “Keep up the good work”, I felt positively guilty and driven to do more. It’s so gratifying though, being just a tiny part of the force for good that is DSAA.

If, like Jean, you would like to become a DSAA Volunteer, we currently need help in the Weymouth area. Please get in touch by emailing: [email protected] or calling: 01823 669604 to find out more.

43

HOW PEOPLE HELP

Family affair Local funeral directors raise thousands for the charity ouch Family Funeral Directors nominated Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) as their 2021 Charity of the Year. Despite COVID-19 restrictions, they managed to raise an incredible £6,992.68. People held raffles and washed cars, while others walked the length of a marathon or half marathon and raised money in sponsorship. The group also held a quiz night and encouraged school children to carry out challenges. Managing Director Nick Douch said: “It was a real family affair. Our staff, including some of their friends, family and children, have done a remarkable job raising this amount. We run a number of friendship and community groups and they also got involved by making items that we sold. It was not hard to motivate ourselves to get involved, because we all know what a wonderful service DSAA provides and we would encourage other businesses thinking of supporting a charity to consider them.”

D

Critical Care Practitioner Lauren Dyson thanked Douch Family Funeral Directors for their fantastic fundraising efforts

Emma Jones, DSAA Fundraising Manager, said: “We are absolutely delighted with this incredible donation. The support of companies such as Douch Family Funeral Directors is invaluable to enable us to continue our life-saving work and be there for patients that need us. Partnerships like this are essential to us and we know how much effort it takes to raise such an amount. Thank you so much to everyone involved for this amazing support.”

Changing red suits – from Critical Care to Santa Stride ur critical care team are easily recognisable in their red suits. However, three of the team changed their attire for a day, to help raise funds for the charity. The annual Sturminster Newton Santa Stride is organised by the local Rotary Club and raises funds for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance every year. Dr Rob Török decided to rope in his brotherin-law Phil to take part, while crew members Neil Bizzell and Eimile Howlin wanted to join in the fun. Together, they had a brilliant time on the day and their efforts saw them raise over £750 for the charity. Rob and the team wanted to say a special thank you to the Dewlish Community Café, who promoted their efforts and supported them by donating £400, and the landlord of the ‘Oak at Dewlish’ called Roy, who supported them with a collection in the pub.

O

Our crew swapped their uniforms for more festive attire 44

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW PEOPLE HELP

Winning team Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has been announced as Dorset County Football Association’s (FA) new charity partner. This will see the charity take on the naming rights of the Dorset Senior Trophy for the 2021/22 season. The Dorset Senior Cup is a knockout cup competition involving association football teams from across the region, who are affiliated with the Dorset County FA. Jemma Tewkesbury, Dorset County FA’s Marketing Lead said: “It’s fantastic to be able

to partner with a local charity and not only promote the amazing work they do in the local area, but hopefully help to raise vital funds they need. This partnership would not have been possible without support from the Dorset FA Board.” Nigel Saxon, Dorset FA’s Independent Non-Executive Director, added: “Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance provides a vital service to our community. We are very pleased to be able to help create awareness of their tireless work through this cup competition.”

A Dorset Kitchen We are extremely grateful to be one of the beneficiaries of the sale of a beautiful and very special cookbook called ‘A Dorset Kitchen’ n 8th September 2020, our team were tasked to 21-year-old Archie, after he was involved in a horseriding incident. Unfortunately, Archie tragically passed away. Besides being an excellent rider, Archie was a very good food photographer; he took all the photos for his mum Patty’s cookery website, ‘A Dorset Kitchen’. Over the last 10 years, Patty has created over 100 recipes and the family decided to put a selection of them in a beautiful hardback

O

@dsairambulance

A D O R SE T K IT C H EN CO O K BO O

K

A coll ecti on of eve ryd ay reci pes crea ted in our fam ily kitc hen . In mem ory of Arc hie who cap ture d the pho tos. Sup por ting : The Air Amb ulan ce & The Arc hie & Man ni Bur sary (wit h Wil liam

Fox -Pit t).

cookbook in Archie’s memory, raising funds for our charity and also the Archie and Manni Bursary, to help and support other young riders over the coming years. Archie captured all the images in the cookbook, which was also inspired by him.

Each copy costs £20 and can be purchased by visiting: adk.zaura.com

SCA N THE QR COD E TO ORD ER WW W.A DOR SET KIT CHE N.C OM £20 - DEL IVE RY LAT E NOV EM BER

45

HOW YOU CAN HELP

How to make a difference There are a number of ways of making a personal donation to help fund our life-saving work. Every penny you donate really does make a difference

Make a one-off donation You can do this in a number of ways:

Donate regularly

One-off donation form

If you would like to support us on a regular basis, you can easily set up a monthly direct debit or standing order.

Simply complete the one-off donation form in the centre of our magazine and return it to us in the post.

Direct debit

Please make cheques payable to ‘Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance’ and send to: DSAA, Landacre House, Castle Road, Chelston Business Park, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 9JQ.

You can do this via our website: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/direct-debit There, you can specify the donation amount, how often you would like to donate and the date you would like this to be collected from your bank account.

Credit/debit card

Standing order

You can do this over the phone by calling us on: 01823 669604 or online via our website: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/donate

You can do this by completing the standing order form in the centre of our magazine and returning it to us in the post.

Cash

Payroll giving

Please do not send cash in the post. Please use one of the payment methods above or call our Wellington or Wimborne office to organise a day/ time to pop in.

Ask your employer if they offer a ‘Give as you Earn Scheme’, most large employers do.

Personal cheque

PLEASE, PLEASE, DON’T FORGET TO GIFT AID YOUR DONATION If you are a UK taxpayer, please do not forget to Gift Aid your donation. Gift Aid enables us to claim back 25p in every £1 donated from HMRC and is one of the easiest ways to make your donation tax effective. The charity reclaims the money and there is no additional cost you! 46

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW YOU CAN HELP

NEW ‘Blossoming and Blooming’ Open Gardens initiative e are delighted to announce the launch of a brand-new fundraising initiative called ‘Blossoming and Blooming’ Open Gardens, which asks people to show us their support by opening their gardens to members of the public between June and September this year. The aim of the campaign is to bring local communities across Dorset and Somerset together, to celebrate the wonderful gardens spread across both counties, while raising awareness and funds for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA). No matter the size of your garden, or whether it is pristine or wild, we hope you will get involved. Whether you simply ‘open your gate’ or have a cream tea or BBQ alongside, the initiative provides a fantastic opportunity for people to hold a special event within their local community in aid of the charity. Emma Jones, DSAA Fundraising Manager, said: “We believe that spending time outdoors with nature is essential for our health and wellbeing. That is why we are asking people to open their gates, share the love of their garden, whilst raising funds for us. You could host a picnic, serve tea on the lawn or just keep it simple and let people sit or potter at their leisure. We have always had wonderful supporters who have opened their gardens in

W

You could open your gate for DSAA this summer and helps us raise vital funds

the past and we hope that others will do the same. With our new ‘Blossoming and Blooming’ initiative, we will be able to fully support these generous people, by providing all that they need for the day, so it can be a positively ‘Blossoming and Blooming’ success!”

To register your interest in taking part, or to find out more, please contact Emma by emailing: [email protected] or by calling: 01823 669604. The ‘Blossoming and Blooming’ initiative will run until 30th September 2022.

Open Gardens Would you open your gate for DSAA?

Can you help us? We need your garden in 2022! Please contact us at [email protected] For more information visit www.dsairambulance.org.uk/open-gardens bb_beeline_a5.indd 1

@dsairambulance

21/01/2022 11:12:12

47

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Other great ways to support us Whether you are an individual, business, school or a group, there are so many ways that you can support us. Below we have listed just a few: Become a collection box holder

Leave a gift in your Will

Our collection boxes are in homes, offices and retail outlets across the two counties. Your loose change is a vital source of income for us.

An everlasting gift which helps secure our future for years to come.

Fundraise as an organisation or group We expect you have lots of ideas of your own. However, if not, our fundraising guide contains lots of great information, including an A-Z of fundraising ideas.

Hold a fundraising event

Mufti/dress down days A great way for schools, colleges and universities to have fun and raise funds at the same time.

Nominate us as your Charity of the Year We will work alongside you all the way, providing support and any fundraising materials you need.

Cake sales, raffles, a sponsored walk or run - the list of ways is endless.

Raise money when you shop, dine and sell

In memory giving

AmazonSmile, Easy Fundraising, Give as you Live, eBay for Charity and Charitable Bookings all help to raise funds in this way.

A wonderful way of family and friends donating to charity in lieu of sending flowers or remembering a loved one.

Join our Lottery Simply complete the lottery direct debit form in the centre of this magazine. You can also read more about our lottery on page 40.

Recycle Why not recycle your unwanted textiles, mobile phones and stamps; you’ll be helping the environment too.

Volunteer Donating the gift of time is very special and our volunteers help us in so many ways.

More information on all these initiatives can be found by visiting: www.dsairambulance.org.uk. Alternatively, you can contact our fundraising team by emailing: [email protected] or by calling: 01823 669604. 48

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Your legacy, their future eaving a gift in your Will is a wonderful thing to do and will help us to continue saving lives for years to come. It’s an incredible way of knowing that after you’ve gone, your legacy will continue. By leaving a gift in your Will today, you are helping to saves lives in the future. Making a Will is an important responsibility. We understand that if you have close relatives, their interests will naturally come first. However, when you have provided for them, you may like to consider leaving a gift to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA). For many people, the content of their Will is a very private matter, whereas others like to talk to us and find out more about the charity before they decide to leave a gift. Please get in touch if this is the case, we promise to respect your privacy and deal with your enquiry with professionalism and sensitivity. Gifts in Wills are a vital source of our funding and equate to over 20% of our annual income. By leaving DSAA a gift in your Will, saving lives will be part of your legacy. Any gift that we receive, no matter how large or small, will make a big difference. It will enable us to be there for the patients who need us today, tomorrow and in the future.

L

If you would like to discuss leaving a gift in your Will, please contact Julie Plowden, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, by calling: 01823 669604 or emailing: [email protected]. More information can also be found by visiting: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/leaving-a-legacy Thank you so much for taking the time to consider us; we are so very grateful for your support.

@dsairambulance

Share your story Our sincere thanks go to the patients and families who have shared their story within this edition of Beeline. It is thanks to them that we can not only highlight the incredible work of our team, but the many others who play a part in a patient’s chain of survival.  If you have experienced the work of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and would be happy to share your story with us, please get in touch by emailing us at:  [email protected]

Paul Fox shared his story in a previous edition of Beeline

49

LETTERS

Postbag

Keeping in touch There are so many ways to contact our team:

Thanks Monty How lovely it was when we received a gorgeous picture of Peggy recently. Our thanks go to Monty for this one; it certainly brightened our day! We hope you love it too!

Thanks for saving my life Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous and safe New Year. Thank you for saving my life back in April 2019 and for all the work you do throughout the year. You are all very special people. Best wishes, John x

Superplants Each Christmas, Superplants makes a small donation to three charities in lieu of sending Christmas cards. This year, we have once again chosen DSAA as one of our chosen charities. We hope this donation of £50 helps a little with the amazing service that you provide. With kind regards, Fiona Reeves

Mobile phones Please find enclosed a few old mobile phones and chargers for the charity. Do hope you are able to make use of them. Thank you for the wonderful work you all do. Very best wishes, Mr and Mrs Terry

Bistech Community Fund With 2021 another challenging year for many, here at Bistech we wanted to give something back to the charities and causes our people care about. With that in mind, we asked everyone in our team to put forward their nominations for an award from the Bistech Community Fund. As a result, we’re delighted to let you know that DSAA has been chosen to receive an award. Please find your cheque enclosed for the sum of £2,000. We hope this donation helps to support your committed and dedicated team with the wonderful work they do. Sally Bailey 50

Name the Bear While attending Dunster Fair, our fundraising team held a ‘Name the Bear’ competition. There were lots of fantastic guesses, but Scarlett came away the lucky winner after choosing the winning name ‘Stanley’; she was pleased as punch to take him home! We hope that you and Stanley have lots of fun-filled adventures, Scarlett!

www.dsairambulance.org.uk Here you will find lots of information about the charity and the work of our critical care team. There are blogs, features, patient stories and loads of ideas on how to fundraise for the charity. You can even set up your own online fundraising page from here. It’s really easy to do! 

Meadowbank Stores I am the manager at Meadowbank Stores. Last year, we raised £200 by asking for donations for reading books/novels that holidaymakers would bring in. We would like to give this money towards the excellent work that is done by the air ambulance. I’m sure I speak on behalf of most of our customers, when I say thank you for the work carried out by the air ambulance – long may it continue. Yours sincerely, Alison Lee

Facebook: Message us, like and share our page or write a review if you’ve witnessed our service first-hand. Twitter: Follow @dsairambulance to see what’s going on around us. Instagram: We’d love you to follow us at: @dsairambulance

National Walk Your Dog Month Our supporters uploaded some fantastic pictures of their four-legged friends, to celebrate National Walk Your Dog Month, here is just one of them!

Email: If you don’t like to put pen to paper, why not email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: A great place for businesses or individuals to link up with us.

Telephone: Call us on: 01823 669604. Write to us: DSAA, Landacre House, Castle Road, Chelston Business Park, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 9JQ.

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

We’re hiring Production and Warehouse Operators

Are you looking for a new career? Do you want to work close to home? Walk or cycle to work? Looking for an active role, where you are walking, moving around and busy? Are you looking for shift work? Either days only or day and night shifts?

Visit our careers page

www.deceuninck.co.uk/en-gb/jobs

A5 CAREER ADVERT.indd 1

Deceuninck Ltd is a window system company and has been established for over 30 years in the UK, with production, distribution and head office in Calne, Wiltshire, employing over 125 people. We want to hear from you if you have: A desire and determination to learn and progress Excellent time keeping and attention to detail A proactive, can-do work ethic Previous experience in a manufacturing environment or forklift experience is desirable but full training provided

To apply, please email an up to date CV to: [email protected] or call 01249 810428

21/07/2021 15:57

Need some extra help and support at home? Our Care South at Home teams offer home care to help you or your loved one. Caring and professional services that are completely reliable, flexible and individually tailored.

Contact our Somerset and Dorset teams today for a free consultation

Somerset 01460 270500 West Dorset

01305 233103

care-south.co.uk/care-at-home Registered Charity No. 1014697

A trusted not-for-profit charity in the heart of your community.

FREE KITCHEN DESIGN SERVICE AVAILABLE

[email protected] | 01249 382000 | HOWDENS.COM