We asked our Operations Manager and paramedic Nigel Hare a few questions, to give you an insight into what working with the Devon Air Ambulance is like for him…

What is your working day like on the Air Ambulance?

Once the equipment and the aircraft is fully checked the crew have a briefing outlining aspects such as the weather, tide times, and on the moors, details of whether the firing ranges are in use. From that point onward we are ready to respond to emergency calls.

Each day starts with a full check of all our equipment. That is both medical and aviation. Even if I have worked the day before and know everything was present and working yesterday, we will still check each day as occasionally items of equipment get used at an incident by other paramedics or if equipment is electronic in nature, the batteries might become flat overnight.

How did you become a member of the Air Ambulance crew?
If I track the start of that path right back to the beginning it would be fair to say that Dartmoor is responsible. When I entered my teenage years I was keen to take part in the Ten Tors challenge and as my school had no involvement in the expedition I needed to find another organisation that did. My options were either the Scouts or the St John Ambulance, both of which were entering teams. However as their meeting nights were on the same day of the week I had to choose one or the other; I chose St. John.  As well as taking part in the Ten Tors for several years, eventually going on to manage my own teams, I also became passionate about first aid and helping people, which in turn led to me embarking on a career in the ambulance service, and ultimately, joining the team on the Air Ambulance.

What was it like when you first started on the Air Ambulance?
My first operational shift was in 1997. I was mentored by an experienced member of the aircrew and even though I had been a Paramedic for five years, the challenges of working on the Air Ambulance were so different from my normal role that it felt like I was fresh out of training college. There are so many other factors to take into consideration, such as the weather, the amount of fuel we have, the choice of treatment centre, as well as all the normal challenges of treating the patient.  My first few weeks remain a blur ,however I will never forget the time very early on in my time with the team when a patient who I did not think would survive their injuries subsequently visited the airbase to meet the crew. It was very apparent that the speed of the Air Ambulance played a significant part in their survival – from that point forward developing the service, in partnership with the South Western Ambulance Service, has been a big part of my life.

How often do you fly with the Air Ambulance?
Most of my role now is in supporting and developing the service, leaving a great team of pilots and paramedics to deliver the service to the patients. However I am still very fortunate to fly three or four times a month which enables me to continue to see first-hand the benefits the service brings to patients.

The Air Ambulance is often seen on and over Dartmoor, do you recall any particular incidents on the moor?
Dartmoor is indeed a place we attend frequently to help people. In fact last year over 130 incidents we responded to were on Dartmoor, either on the open moorland or in its towns, villages and hamlets. I remember many different incidents, each for different reasons. There have been several challenging rescues on steep ground or between the rocks on Tors. There have been occasions where we have had to carry people long distances to reach the helicopter because of the steep terrain or poor weather meaning the helicopter could not quite get to the top of the hill which was covered in cloud. It is amazing how often on moorland that seems deserted people appear as if from nowhere offering to help lift and carry the patient. Unfortunately it is also surprising how often they don’t; and the crew have to persevere alone! But I will never forget the expression of immense relief on one lady’s face, followed by tears, when we landed just yards from her husband who was having a heart attack, miles from anywhere or any other help.

Do you have a favourite area of the moors?
I have a couple. I am very privileged to have seen all of the moors from the air; flying across the moors between Mortonhampstead and Burrator on a clear sunny day is a wonderful experience; open moorland, farmsteads, Tors on either side, the imposing view of the prison at Princetown and then the panorama of Burrator Reservoir, the Tamar Valley, Cornwall and the Atlantic; all at the same time! But if I’m walking on the moors on a day off, I love the walk to my name sake, Hare Tor, via Tavy Cleave, an experience I can now share with my son as he practices for his first Ten Tors Expedition this year.

What does the future hold for Devon Air Ambulance?
We are always looking to develop the service we provide to the people of Devon. This year sees us celebrate 21 years of the Devon Air Ambulance.  In that time we have moved forward from using a second-hand ex-military aircraft operating just five days a week, to two aircraft operating 7 days a week covering a period of up to 14 hours a day in the summer. Later this year we take possession of our second brand new aircraft, designed specifically for the needs of the patients we meet and all made possible by the support of the people of Devon. Extending even further the hours each day we can deliver our service to the seriously ill or injured, whilst at the same time increasing the clinical capabilities of the service, will help ensure that we can help even more patients in their time of need.

Thanks Nigel!

Guest blogger:  Katie Finn, Kidz First Aid

I am a paediatric nurse and after many enjoyable years of working in Paediatric A&E settings I realised that first aid information specific to children’s emergency procedures is not easily obtainable for parents so I decided to go it alone and set up Kidz First Aid. My aim is to give parents peace of mind and confidence, so they know what to do if things go wrong.

To spread the word of my courses I decided to exhibit at a baby fair but felt I needed to have a product on offer for parents to buy rather then just handing out leaflets. One of the topics I cover on my course is first aid kits. Then it struck me – why not design my own and make it child specific. In the end I went for 3 different designs – one for babies that is small enough to cram into a nappy bag, a middle range one that can be used by all the family and a deluxe model that can be used by older children themselves as well as adults.

I decided on the contents with a little help from my nephews (although I don’t think the eye pad was the one they had in mind) it was then on to the bag. There are so many generic green bags out there I wanted mine to be different and fun as well as locally made. I found a very helpful neoprene company in Cornwall and the kits were born.

My decision to support DAAT was a very easy one. Not only are they local and very relevant to my work but in my previous nursing role as Paediatric Burns Nurse for Devon I heard nothing but praise for the team from parents when their children had been airlifted to Frenchay Hospital. This is a vital service and I am happy to donate £2 to the charity for every first aid kit I sell. The DAAT team are all so friendly and supportive of my new venture and I was absolutely delighted when they said they would endorse my kits – I could not wish for better support.

By Sarah Collier, Therapy Works South West

Devon Air Ambulance Trust provide an invaluable service and we thought the DAAT staff could probably do with some attention themselves. We /Therapy Works South West arrived at the Exeter head office to a warm welcome and set up our special massage chairs in a pleasant office space sandwiched between two busy meeting rooms. Some of the 14 members of staff we saw had never had any kind of massage before and didn’t know what to expect from Seated Acupressure Massage- their 30 minute appointment convinced them of the benefits! In fact, all of these hard working DAAT staff really appreciated the opportunity to unwind and let us attend to their upper bodies – especially tight necks and shoulders. A busy, sometimes pressured, work schedule and unavoidable computer work often leads to muscular aches and pains, headaches and eyestrain.

DAAT staff enjoyed their treatments, combining warming and loosening strokes (to back, neck and arms) with pressure point work (to back, forearms and hands).

“I felt so much better sat at my desk afterwards, it would help greatly regularly”

Many commented on the stretches and passive movements that are part of the treatment and that help to further release key area of tightness – especially beneficial in the neck and shoulder area. “It helped with an existing injury”. Everyone was receptive to some self-care tips on posture and simple stretches to do in the office to minimise the build up of aches and pains from e.g. computer use as well as RSI (repetitive strain injury). “Relaxing, informative, mentally and physically beneficial – very therapeutic” It was really enjoyable and rewarding to spend the day with such a great bunch of people. Thank you DAAT!

www.therapyworkssouthwest.co.uk/

It was my absolute privilege to spend the day with the DAAT staff team last week providing them with a workshop on using Facebook and how it can be used to bring even more support and encouragement to their brilliant work. We had a really good day going over the features of the social network, how to make the most of time spent communicating and connecting with others, and of course how we can develop DAAT pages, groups and campaigns further in the months ahead. Some of the team were a bit reluctant about it all and others only using the network for purely social purposes, but by the end of the session we had a real enthusiasm for how it can be put to effective use to support the Trust.

If you are a regular F

acebooker then make sure you ‘like’ their page now to receive lots of updates, features, news and photos - http://www.facebook.com/devonairambulancetrust/

The workshop came as part of my return to action, and as regular readers of this blog will know this is my way of starting to give back to the charity having been rescued by the DAAT helicopter in August of last year. I am now up-and-about a bit more, able to spend most days in the office, and even though transport and mobility is a challenge with the x-fix frame on my leg, I was able to get to Exeter thanks to colleagues at Cosmic and their support for this work.

And also last week I was able to present to a wonderful ladies networking evening at the Exeter Golf and Country Club courtesy of Old Mill Accounting and it was a further opportunity to explain to business women in the room that – “It Could be You!”. None of us knows when we might need to be rescued, and we really do need to keep offering the team at DAAT as much support as we can to keep this service effective and successful.

The recovery process after the accident and having broken my leg so badly is proving slow and frustrating, but its been highly motivating for me to be able to offer support to the DAAT team, and they’ve given me plenty of added inspiration for the months ahead when I hope to be able to offer plenty more support, ideas and encouragement to their work.

And in other news! My nephew Archie wants to be a Devon Air Ambulance pilot and was absolutely thrilled recently when the helicopter made a landing near his home and he was allowed to grab a few photo moments. He’s an absolute star and clearly has pilot potential don’t you think?