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Coordinates: 52°19′55″N 0°03′47″W / 52.332007°N 0.063123°W / 52.332007; -0.063123
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Magpas Air Ambulance
Formation1 January 1971; 53 years ago (1971-01-01)
TypeNGO
Legal statusRegistered Charity 1119279
PurposeEmergency Medical Provision
HeadquartersHuntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England
Coordinates52°19′55″N 0°03′47″W / 52.332007°N 0.063123°W / 52.332007; -0.063123
Region served
East Anglia, England
Revenue (2019)
£4.5 million
Expenses (2019)£4.4 million
Staff (2019)
38
Volunteers (2019)
76
Websitemagpas.org.uk Edit this at Wikidata
G-MGPS helicopter
AW169 G-MGPS, the current Magpas helicopter
G-HMDX
MD902, G-HMDX in previous 'HELIMEDIX' livery.

Magpas Air Ambulance is an emergency medical charity that provides pre-hospital emergency care, in the air or on land, including treatments normally only available in hospital. The charity operates 24/7 from its base in Cambridgeshire and is activated to seriously ill or injured patients in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and the East of England – caring for a population of over 10 million.

The Magpas Air Ambulance medical team combines the skills of a specialist doctor and critical care paramedic on every shift. They support the NHS Ambulance Service by providing treatments at the scene of life-threatening emergencies that would otherwise only be available in hospital and are dispatched by both the East of England Ambulance Service Trust and the East Midlands Ambulance Service Trust.

History

Magpas Air Ambulance was founded as the Mid Anglia General Practitioner Accident Service in 1971 by Dr Neville Silverston OBE and Dr Derek Cracknell,[1] who responded to road accidents in their own cars.

The origins of the name relate to a close historical and geographical association with Cambridgeshire Constabulary which, until 1974, was known as the Mid-Anglia Constabulary. The service was originally provided by General Practitioners from across the Mid Anglia area that was activated by the police and ambulance services to attend serious accidents and provide on-scene care. Magpas provided the training, equipment and governance framework. The organisation became a registered charity in 1972.[2] The charity is now simply known as Magpas Air Ambulance after acquiring its own helicopter in 2013.[3]

Within the first five years that Magpas was operational the road accident fatality rate in Mid Anglia fell by 36%.

In 1977, Magpas contributed to the foundation of the British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS) to raise and maintain the standards of care given by doctors responding to medical emergencies. Today BASICS is a recognised authority on pre-hospital immediate care and Magpas has remained a member ever since. As NHS Ambulance Service Paramedics developed so did the charity. It undertook detailed research into its effectiveness and reviewed the way it operated.

In 1997, the charity entered a new partnership with Cambridgeshire Constabulary to use the police helicopter for deployment of medical staff and patient transport.[1]

In 1999, Magpas Air Ambulance became the first service in the region to provide a night-time helicopter emergency medical service.

In 2007, the East Anglian Air Ambulance agreed to provide an Air Ambulance helicopter, dubbed Anglia Two, to be based out of RAF Wyton for Daytime missions.[4] Although this was withdrawn in 2010, and Magpas Air Ambulance went back to providing the whole service, in conjunction with the Police.

From 2000 until 2010 the charity developed a network of Community First Responder Schemes across Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. These local volunteers were trained by Magpas and then responded to medical emergencies such as chest pain and breathing difficulties in their local area. Their role was to treat the patient until the ambulance service arrived. In 2010 the Magpas Air Ambulance First Responders were joined with other schemes under the leadership of the East of England Ambulance Trust who will now look after the scheme.

In 2010, East Anglian Air Ambulance announced plans for their helicopter service which would no longer rely on Magpas volunteers.[5] In 2012, Magpas Air Ambulance began flying with its own helicopter, having paid to use a police helicopter for the preceding fifteen years.[6]

The charity was heavily involved in the creation of Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM), a sub-specialty of Emergency Medicine and Anesthesia recognised by the General Medical Council. Doctors train with Magpas in giving people facing serious medical emergencies lifesaving procedures and treatments which are not normally available outside of a hospital

Magpas was registered with the Healthcare Commission[7] and was inspected by the Care Quality Commission in March 2014.[8] This means the governance and quality assurance of the care it provides meets national standards.

In 2007 Magpas Air Ambulance become the first independent pre-hospital care service in the UK to voluntarily register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

In October 2015, Magpas Air Ambulance announced it would provide a 24-hour service for emergency medical care, although the helicopter is not available at all times. By doing so, it became the first air ambulance charity in the East of England region to offer round-the-clock care.[9]

2016 marked the first full year of the charity's 24/7 service. The need for which was reflected in the growing number of incidents Magpas Air Ambulance were called to, with almost 50% of missions occurring overnight between the hours of 7pm – 7am.[10]  

February 2018, when Magpas Air Ambulance was last inspected, the Care Quality Commission deemed the service to be outstanding and required no improvement in any areas. The CQC's full inspection report is available to read publicly.[11]

In June 2018, Magpas Air Ambulance launched a two-year appeal to raise £1.5 million and bring a new state of the art helicopter to the region. Their helicopter at the time, an MD 902 Explorer, entered service in 2001 and was coming to the end of its operational life. Following intensive research, the charity selected an AugustaWestland 169 (AW169) helicopter to become the new Magpas Air Ambulance.

The Further, Faster, Greater Appeal was launched by two Magpas Air Ambulance former patients in front of an audience of more than 250 people, during an event at Abbots Ripton Hall. Guests heard first-hand accounts of the lifesaving difference the charity makes and why it needed the new air ambulance.

Following the appeal's success, the new aircraft came into service in May 2019 which was celebrated with a ‘Big Community Fly In’.[12] The benefits of the new air ambulance were clear from the outset, with the charity's medical team seeing outstanding benefits for patient care. Not only is it a faster aircraft, with more space in the cabin for the patients, clinicians and kit bags but they airlifted the same number of patients in the first week as they did the whole month of March 2019.[13]

  • Neville Silverston
    Neville Silverston
  • Early Magpas control
    Early Magpas control
  • Volunteer 1980s
    Volunteer 1980s
  • Volunteer 1990s
    Volunteer 1990s

Research

In 1989, the Diploma in Immediate Medical Care was established with the help of a Magpas doctor. It tests the knowledge, skills and behaviours of pre-hospital emergency care practitioners. To date, all Magpas doctors and paramedics must have passed this diploma.

In partnership with the University Hospital of Leicester, Magpas Air Ambulance runs CTARP (the Cambridge Trauma and Audit Research Project). This project looks to identify lessons from all cases of traumatic injury occurring in Cambridgeshire. This can then be used to improve the quality of care and examine ways to prevent incidents in the first place.[14]

Training

The charity was the first in the region to train community first responders and piloted the first Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM) training scheme for doctors. In 2014 the charity became the first accredited pre-hospital emergency training scheme nationally.

Now, the Magpas Air Ambulance training programme is based upon the fundamental principal of professional training for professional people. The course is designed to build on and support learning and training needs in the sub-specialty of Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM). Currently, it lasts for 8 days and involves interactive lectures and simulated training with full body human simulators. The faculty consists of Consultants, senior doctors and paramedics with people acting in the role of ambulance crews and bystanders. The idea is to help the Magpas Air Ambulance team members immerse themselves in the scenario and the operating environment within which they are expected to work. All of the simulator based cases are based on real cases, real equipment, with real pathology and real clinical challenges.

After completing the Magpas Air Ambulance PHEM training course, every member of the medical team must go through a process of supervision shifts before they are allowed to form the duty doctor-paramedic team on their own. This is to make sure that not only do Magpas Air Ambulance's patients receive the best possible level of care, but the clinicians are completely comfortable in the role.

By giving patients the initial treatment they need on-scene, often using skills more commonly found in emergency departments, the medical team can reduce suffering, limit further damage, and ultimately help to improve patient outcome.

Facts and figures

  • Magpas Air Ambulance has attended over 60,000 patients since it was founded in 1971.
  • In 2019, Magpas Air Ambulance responded to 1290 callouts for advanced care, treating patients in 12 counties across the East of England and beyond.
  • The most common incidents the medical team are called to are road traffic collisions, cardiac arrests and falls.
  • In 2019, the charity reported an income of £4.5m with outgoings of £4.4m.[15]
  • In 2019, the charity employed 38 people and had 76 volunteers.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Barrett, Hywel (17 August 2014). "OBITUARY: Founder of Huntingdonshire charity Magpas Dr Derek Cracknell MBE". The Hunts Post. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  2. ^ "Charity Commission Removed Charity Mid Anglia General Practitioner Accident Service". Charity Commission. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  3. ^ ITV Anglia. "New air ambulance takes to the skies". Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  4. ^ Charity Commission Return 2009 (PDF), Magpas, July 2010, retrieved 13 October 2010
  5. ^ "East Anglian Air Ambulance drops Magpas volunteers". BBC News. 27 October 2010.
  6. ^ "Magpas medical charity to get own helicopter". BBC News. 18 April 2012.
  7. ^ "Regulatory Assessment Statement 2008/2009" (PDF). www.cqc.org.uk. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  8. ^ "Providers: Archived: Magpas - East of England". www.cqc.org.uk. Care Quality Commission. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  9. ^ Lamy, Joel (2 October 2015). "Magpas launches first 24/7 emergency care service of its kind in the East of England". Peterborough Today. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  10. ^ https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2017-01-14/record-year-for-magpas-air-ambulance/
  11. ^ "CQC Report" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Cambridge Independent article on the new Magpas Air Ambulance".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ "Fenland Citizen article on the new Magpas Air Ambulance".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Research, Magpas, retrieved 13 October 2010
  15. ^ a b "Magpas accounts to 31 December 2015". Charity Commission. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
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