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Better Emergency Response
The Scottish Ambulance Service operates nationwide. Scotland's geography and the dispersed populations in our remote and rural areas can present a particular challenge in responding to emergencies and transporting patients to and from routine appointments. There are particular problems in some of the outer islands of Shetland and Orkney where there are no emergency land ambulances and residents must rely on local GPs and nurses to get them to hospital.
The Scottish Ambulance Service is working hard to overcome these problems. It has introduced new air ambulances and installed tracking systems that show the exact location of all their vehicles and enable them to respond more quickly to emergency situations. However, more needs to be done and the Scottish Ambulance Service will be working with a range of organisations that currently provide transport for patients, whether by land, air or sea, to provide a more co-ordinated transport system in remote and rural areas.
One example of the work that's already underway is the trial of the Emergency Medical Retrieval Service. The service will fly out specialist consultants to provide on-site resuscitation and safe transfer for patients with life threatening injuries or illness in remote and rural hospitals. Consultants will also provide 24/7 online and telephone advice to any health care professional within the trial area regarding any critically ill or injured patient and their potential transfer or retrieval.
Whilst the main focus of the Scottish Ambulance Service is on responding to emergency situations, they also take patients to planned appointments at hospitals and clinics. Here they work alongside a number of different providers including volunteer drivers working for voluntary organisations and specialists skilled in transporting babies and children. Again, the challenge is to improve the coordination between these different forms of transport and the Scottish Ambulance Service will take a lead in making this happen.
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