Great North Air Ambulance blood plasma project 'saves 500 patients'

Paramedic Andy Mawson, said he was "very proud and privileged" to deliver the care to the people of the North

Blood and plasma carried on the Great North Air Ambulance Service's aircraft and overnight cars has helped saved hundreds of lives, bosses have said.

Since 2015, the critical care team has been able to carry out transfusions at the scene of an incident, giving patients the best chance of survival.

The scheme has now helped 500 patients, including Bethany Oliver who was the second person to receive the treatment.

Her mum Claire Foster said Blood on Board "saved her daughter's life".

The treatment, which was not previously possible outside of a hospital setting, was the idea of consultant trauma anaesthetist Dr Rachel Hawes.

She first had the idea when deployed in Afghanistan as a member of the Army Reserve.

The bags used in transfusions contain a mixture of blood and plasma

"I was working as a doctor there and I first saw blood and plasma transfusions used to help soldiers with life-threatening injuries and I recognised it was something that could be adapted to be of benefit the NHS in the North East and Cumbria," she said.

"To see that idea implemented and to be used to treat patients and potentially go on to save lives, it's just been such a rewarding experience.

"As a team we've just arrived at the 500th patient involved which is a huge landmark for us."

'Wouldn't have made it'

Ms Oliver, 25, from Ryton, Gateshead, received blood in 2015 when she was involved in a collision which left her with life-changing injuries.

Although she now needs around-the-clock care, she would not be alive today without the scheme, her mother said.

Ms Foster said: "Had they not had the blood onboard, she wouldn't even have got to the hospital, she wouldn't have made it.

"They didn't give her much of a [chance of survival], I think it was 3%, but she's home now, she's been home about a year."

Ms Oliver and her mother met Dr Hawes and Andy Mawson, the air ambulance's critical care paramedic who was at the scene, at the charity's base in Eaglescliffe.

"I could cry when I seen him," Ms Foster added.

"But how can you thank them? You can't.

"There's nothing I can do that would let him know how much we appreciate what he did."

The plasma and blood mixture is delivered daily to the air ambulance bases in Eaglescliffe and Langwathby, near Penrith, by Northumbria Blood Bikes and Blood Bikes Cumbria, with support from the Henry Surtees Foundation, from the blood laboratories at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.