Charity

Our charity today launches a landmark new study in a first for UK air ambulances and pre-hospital care in an aim to reduce deaths due to catastrophic bleeding.

Thanks to funding from Barts Charity, Saracens and The Henry Surtees Foundation, the two-year study will look at the effectiveness of using a new blood product in critically injured patients suffering major trauma in London. 

The product will consist of red blood cells and plasma, and can be given as a transfusion to patients at risk of bleeding to death before arriving at hospital.

Dr Tony Joy, Clinical Lead for our charity’s Physician Response Unit (PRU), has been named one of London’s 1000 most influential people by the Evening Standard. Tony was nominated in the ‘Social Pillars: Health’ category for leading the innovative collaboration’s expansion, and the impact it has had on patient experience.

Could you be the designer of our charity’s next Christmas card? We’re looking for a budding young artist to help us say Merry Christmas.

It may feel a little early to start thinking about Christmas, but we’re already on the hunt for a new design for our cards. We send these cards out to some of our supporters, ex-patients and those our charity works closely with.

We were really pleased to welcome two lucky lottery winners and their families to the helipad this month to present them with their winning cheque for £1000.  Thamesmead resident Susan Hazell and New Malden resident Gail Thompson both won the top prize in our weekly lottery draw.  At the helipad they were given a tour of the service and had the opportunity to speak to the medics and operational crews.

Speaking after her visit with her husband Paul, Susan said;

Our charity’s Physician Response Unit (PRU), delivered in partnership with Barts Health NHS Trust and London Ambulance Service, has been nominated for a prestigious HSJ Award. The service has been shortlisted in the category of ‘Improvement in Emergency and Urgent Care’, which recognises and celebrates initiatives to improve patient experience in emergency and urgent care.

Our charity has today welcomed the news that the introduction of major trauma centres has increased the number of patients surviving serious injury by almost a fifth since 2012.

Independent research has shown that across the 27 sites offering specialist expertise to patients with serious injuries, 1656 additional patients have survived. London is home to four major trauma centres, which our charity regularly transfers patients to after providing critical on-scene care; St George’s Hospital, King’s College Hospital, St Mary’s Hospital and our base, The Royal London Hospital.

One of our charity’s former patients is undertaking an epic fitness challenge to raise money for our service. Captain Javed Johl, an instructor at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy and former combat medic, will be taking on 24 military personal fitness assessments (PFAs) in 24 hours to demonstrate how far he has come in his recovery.

We are so excited to report that Sainsbury’s stores across the capital have selected London’s Air Ambulance as their Local Charity of the Year. From Balham to Woolwich and from Barnet to Whitechapel, we will be showcasing our charity in lots of the city’s stores. The partnerships, voted for by the public, include a range of support, such as awareness-raising and fundraising in-store, volunteering and donations.

We have released a new video to help tell the stories of some of our former patients.

Please take a moment to watch the video, and share with your family and friends to spread the word about our charity.

To mark the NHS’s 70th Birthday, Olympic Gold Medalist Amy Williams had the opportunity to nominate a lifesaver for The Sun’s ‘Who Cares Wins’ Awards. Having had a near-miss injury during training, the Skeleton champion understood how vital it can be to receive quick medical care in an emergency. Therefore, Amy chose one of our charity’s founders, Dr Alastair Wilson as her nominee to receive the award.