Five nominations for life saving charity covering Dorset
The whole of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance's crew are up for one
Last updated 27th Nov 2021
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) have been nominated for five categories at this year’s Air Ambulances UK Awards of Excellence.
The award recognises the professionalism, excellence and dedication of the air ambulance community across the UK.
The Independent Judging Panel, includes trauma specialist Professor Karim Brohi, Debra Alcock-Tyler (CEO, Directory of Social Change) and Steve Irving (Executive Officer of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives),
Who has been nominated?
DSAA’s Patient and Family Liaison Nurses, Jo Petheram and Kirsty Caswell have been shortlisted in the Practitioner of the Year category for exceptional clinical and professional duty.
Both are critical care practitioners, who together have created, developed and deliver DSAA’s Patient and Family Liaison service.
They have dedicated the last 18 months to developing the patient pathways during the last 18 months, reaching over 500 patients a year.
Dr Phil Hyde is the Medical Lead for DSAA and has been shortlisted in the Doctor of the Year category.
A collaboration between DSAA, the Wales and West Acute Transport for Children Service (WATCh), Bristol Children’s Hospital Trauma Team Leaders (BCHTTL) and the Southampton Oxford Retrieval Team (SORT), has been shortlisted in the Innovation of the Year category.
The collaboration has led to an expansion in advocacy for children, enabling Helicopter Emergency Medical Service teams to formally support time-critical paediatric inter-hospital transport in the South West region. The project is the first of its kind in the UK and demonstrates that the air ambulance community, hospital community and regional networks can achieve substantial collaborative improvements in networked patient care under NHS governance. It has taken five years to develop.
The incident which sees DSAA become a finalist in the Special Incident of the Year category took place in May last year, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It involved members of DSAA’s critical care team; Dr Stewart McMorran, Jo Hernandez and Pete Appleby (Specialist Practitioners in Critical Care) and pilot Captain Max Hoskins. The incident demonstrated an astonishing chain of care in order to achieve a wonderful outcome for a patient who suffered a cardiac arrest whilst cycling along a disused railway line (trailway). It also demonstrated excellent multi-agency working and collaboration between the police, fire, ambulance service and DSAA.
Finally, the whole charity team at DSAA have been shortlisted in the Charity Team of the Year category. With a small team of staff, every single member has come together over the past 18 months to ensure that the engine of the charity has kept going.
Simmy Akhtar, CEO of Air Ambulances UK, said: “The professionalism, excellence and dedication of all those who work and volunteer within the air ambulance community is extraordinary. We are incredibly proud that these awards recognise their vital contribution to providing advanced pre-hospital critical care to people who suddenly become critically injured or ill, saving lives and improving patient outcomes every day across the UK. I would like to thank everyone who made a nomination this year; each one was hugely inspiring. Our judging panel had to make some very difficult decisions and so the individuals and team at Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has every reason to be proud of their incredible lifesaving work and to have reached the shortlist for the Air Ambulances UK Awards of Excellence. We very much look forward to announcing the winners at our virtual ceremony next month.”
Bill Sivewright, CEO of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance said: “Everyone at Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is immensely proud of the work we do to continually improve patient outcomes through great teamwork, collaboration and innovation. We are absolutely delighted to be shortlisted in five categories this year and recognise the amazing company we are in amongst the shortlistees. This is not only testament to the broad scope and high standard of what we do, but more importantly, to the incredible motivation and professionalism of our people.”
The Air Ambulances UK Awards of Excellence will take place virtually on Friday 3rd December 2021.