Bravo (BRistol and Avon VOlunteer) Medics – a scheme of volunteer doctors, who support the South Western Ambulance service in emergency incidents in their spare time – is to acquire new, state of the art emergency responder equipment; including blue lights, sirens and winter tyres, to ensure its members are able to drive quickly and safely to an emergency incident.
The new funding will also enable the Bravo Medics’ team, to train a third responder, who is a Consultant in Cardiology and Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine, in blue light response driving. This means the team will be able to respond to more incidents across Bristol.
The much-needed equipment has been made possible after the team successfully bid for a total of £10,943 from annual pots of £250,000, which are given to the British Association for Immediate Care every year by the County Air Ambulance HELP Appeal – the only charity in the country dedicated to funding NHS hospital helipads.
Bravo Medics is one of a network of schemes across the UK, which operates under the umbrella of the British Association for Immediate Care – a national organisation. It was established in 2020 and in its first year of operation responded to 84 incidents – treating 74 critically ill patients (66 adults and 8 children) in the community or at the roadside, including delivering 13 emergency anaesthetics to allow patients to safely get to hospital who otherwise may have died.
As a new charity they are currently relying mainly on second hand and loaned equipment, so support like this is vital to their work.
Dr Andrew Heavyside, the Chairman of Bravo Medics said:
“We are really grateful to both the British Association for Immediate Care and the County Air Ambulance HELP Appeal for this donation, which has played a huge part in allowing us to establish ourselves as a life-saving charity so quickly.
“At present everyone is going through a really difficult time due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, and it is humbling to be able to volunteer our time to support both the ambulance service and our local community through this.
“Due to the critical nature of the incidents we attend, minutes really do count! Being able to drive quickly and safely to the patient needing our help allows us to start hospital-level treatment quickly, increasing its likelihood of success.”
Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the County Air Ambulance HELP Appeal added:
“This donation to Bravo Medics is in recognition of their lifesaving work – all carried out in their spare time – supporting local ambulance crews faced with hugely complex incidents, where people’s lives are at serious risk. This new equipment along with a new volunteer, will help the team to reach more incidents quickly and safely and give patients the best possible chance of survival and recovery.”
The HELP Appeal was created 11 years ago by the County Air Ambulance Trust. It is the only charity in the country dedicated to funding NHS hospital helipads. To date it has funded 40 helipads, which have received over 16,500 landings. The HELP Appeal relies solely on charitable donations and does not receive any government funding or money from the National Lottery. You can donate here to help support our work.
