Ed shares this latest news from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons. Ed
A grant of £4,000 to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons has brought the total Masonic support given to Air Ambulances across the country to £2.1 million since 2007.
Equipment for critical care
The grant will go towards the purchase of syringe drivers which will be used by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance Critical Care Team to deliver critical care drugs to seriously ill patients. A syringe driver functions as a pump that “drives” a syringe, allowing a drug to be given continuously to a patient at a controlled rate.
Syringe drivers have many uses in pre-hospital medicine, including anaesthesia, cardiac support and intensive care transfers. When a patient is anaesthetised as a result of a serious injury or medical condition it is important that anaesthetic drugs are given by a continuous infusion and this can only be done by a syringe driver.
Syringe drivers are commonly used to infuse adrenaline after cardiac arrest resuscitation in order to support the heart and circulation of a patient.
And finally, patients transferred to specialist units such as the burns centres are often dependent on several syringe drivers to deliver drugs which keep them asleep and stable.
Made possible with grant
David Sutton, Clinical Governance Lead at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance commented:
“The B Braun Perfusor Space Pump is one of only a few specialist syringe drivers on the market that can be used to deliver critical care drugs in the field and in the air.
“With the support of The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Masons we will be able to purchase three of these pumps for our Critical Care Team to use both on board the Air Ambulance and in our new Critical Care Team Volvo XC90 Land Response Vehicle.”
Funded by the Freemasons
The £4,000 grant, which comes through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, is funded by Freemasons and their families from across England and Wales. During 2017, Freemasons from around the country will be presenting 20 regional Air Ambulances with grants totalling £192,000.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance brings an advanced Critical Care team to people throughout Hampshire and the Isle of Wight when they need it most. The charity has carried out over 7000 missions since the start of operations in 2007, many of them life saving.
Rachel Leaman, Head of Income Generation at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance said:
“We are very grateful to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons for their continuing generosity. It currently costs in excess of £9,000 a day to maintain our life saving service, and it is only thanks to the support of the communities that we serve that we are able to bring our Critical Care team to those in their hour of need.”
Proud to support the charity
Mike Wilks, Provincial Grand Master for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons said:
“Countless lives are saved every year thanks to the tireless efforts of the highly skilled Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance Critical Care Team. We are proud to be able to support the charity and to be able to play our part in helping to save lives in our community.”
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance relies entirely on charitable grants and donations. To make a donation, visit http://www.hiowaa.org/donate/
