Secondary Care Team of the Year 2010

Secondary Care Team of the Year

Category proudly sponsored by:

Recognising hospital teams that demonstrate improved outcomes of medical and surgical conditions.

The Emergency Medical Retrieval Service (ERMS), a unique service in the UK, makes health care accessible to people living in isolated areas. The service has transformed the care and transfer of injured patients and patients with life threatening conditions in remote parts of Scotland.

The initiative began in 2004 when a group of 10 consultants started to operate a 24 hour a day, consultant delivered advisory service, serving remote hospitals. After three years of operation of the unpaid service a business case was submitted to the Scottish health department arguing for a national aero-medical retrieval service.

ERMS was then established as an 18 month pilot in 2008, backed by £1.5 million from the Scottish government. An independent evaluation has proved positive, estimating that the service is saving 24 lives a year on Scotland’s west coast, and funding for the service has continued.

Before ERMS was established, patients in isolated areas were often not stabilised before transfer and underwent air transfer with ambulance escorts. Unfortunately they often deteriorated and died during transfer.

The ERMS team consists of 16 part time consultants, 10 part time registrars, 15 paramedics, and three research and support staff. Participating clinicians undergo appropriate aviation training, including underwater escape training, and are equipped with personal safety equipment.

Dr Stephen Hearns, lead consultant for ERMS, said: “We are a  relatively new service with [currently] no permanent funding. Publicising the lifesaving work we do to the public and  professional colleagues will help future proof our service.

“Previously, patients with critical illness in remote and rural areas  had less access to specialists in intensive care and emergency medicine. They had to undergo hazardous air transfers before they were adequately stabilised.With EMRS they now have a much better chance of surviving and have equal access to critical care specialists.”