18 Jun 2015
The pioneering trauma and emergency care provided by us and Barts Health NHS Trust has featured in the BBC series ‘An Hour To Save Your Life’. The three-part second series returned to BBC Two this month, capturing life-saving medical innovations at the roadside and in hospital at The Royal London in Whitechapel and St. Bartholomew’s in the City — two of Barts Health NHS Trust’s hospitals.
The series included open chest surgery at the roadside performed by our doctor Simon Walsh, blood transfusions, haemorrhage control for patients bleeding to death, and restarting a patient’s heart after a sudden cardiac arrest. Two million people tuned into the final episode on Tuesday night and it was the highest rated programme on BBC Two that day.
We work in partnership with the London Ambulance Service, The Royal London Hospital and Barts Health NHS Trust to deliver our medical teams to the people of London. As a charity we have long pioneered advances in trauma and critical care and have an international reputation for caring for some of the most seriously ill and injured patients.
Dr Gareth Davies, Medical Director at London’s Air Ambulance said: “Our aim is to provide our patients with the world’s most innovative and effective pre-hospital and hospital care. The An Hour To Save Your Life series captures procedures and chains of care, pioneered by London’s Air Ambulance working hand in hand with trauma and cardiology colleagues at Barts Health NHS Trust, to try to reverse the dying process and literally bring patients back from the brink of death.”
Many viewers took to Twitter to praise the work that the medical teams carried out throughout the series. The comments included:
- “What a privilege it is to live in the UK with amazing emergency services. Total heroes. Let’s get London’s Air Ambulance a second helicopter.”
- “Pretty proud to be training at Barts after watching #AHTSYL. London’s Air Ambulance trauma doctors are just incredible.”
- “Remarkable people doing remarkable things. Amazing to see the human race at its very best! Hats off to you all who save lives.”
London’s Air Ambulance features in the first and third episodes of the series and both episodes are still available to watch on iPlayer for a limited time only.