GNAAS develop kit bags that act as an 'on-the-move A&E unit'

Wed, 08 Nov 2023

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) have developed new kit bags which function as a miniature on-the-move A&E unit and are worth £36,000.

The charitably funded air ambulance service provides life-saving care throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and the Isle of Man.

GNAAS paramedic, Lee Salmon, was part of the team of five who came up with the concept.

Mr Salmon said: “These bags contain all our medical equipment and are a modular system, comprising of two main bags, a monitoring bag, and a procedure bag.

“They are also supported by small modules that can be clipped to each bag to change its operational capability, for example paediatric and obstetric incidents.”

Before the bags were designed, members of GNAAS’ critical care team would have to go back to the aircraft for certain pieces of equipment or ask the road ambulance crew to get the items that they couldn’t carry which essentially created a time delay.

Inside the bags are various pieces of life-saving equipment including a defibrillator and monitoring unit to look at patients’ observations.

The kit also includes an oxygen-driven ventilator and a Butterfly ultrasound scanner which can be used to look at arteries and veins to find out if blood is where it shouldn’t be, and check that the lungs are working and if there is any air where it shouldn’t be.

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