Paramedic UK » NWAS

Manchester paramedics to post every incident during 12-hour shift on Twitter

Editor — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:57:53 +0000

Every incident paramedics attend in a day will be ‘live-tweeted’ during a massive Twitter experiment.

Crews from the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) will take part in the ‘tweetathon’ to give people a rare insight into what they do.

A member of the trust’s communications team will accompany the crew as an ‘observer’ to tweet throughout a 12-hour shift in Manchester.

It will come after a week of tweeting from other towns and cities in the north west.

Trust bosses have stressed they will not reveal the exact location or personal details of the people they treat.

via Manchester Evening News – menmedia.co.uk.

999 ambulances in Greater Manchester now second best in the country

Editor — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:18:39 +0000

Greater Manchester’s ambulance service has gone from one of the worst in the country to one of the best – after being threatened with huge fines.

The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) came under fire from health bosses last year after failing to get to enough 999 calls on time. Now, new figures reveal the service has turned its performance around – and is beating government targets.

The news comes after the trust that runs NWAS was given an ultimatum in August to improve – or face a £3.8m fine.

Paramedics are supposed to get to life-threatening emergencies within eight minutes – and trusts must hit the standard 75 per cent of the time.

via Manchester Evening News – menmedia.co.uk.

Merseyside ambulance staff to cover London Olympics

Editor — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:35:31 +0000

Merseyside ambulance staff will definitely be sent to help cover the London Olympic Games.

Some North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) board members have expressed concern about the effect the move will have on performance.

The trust confirmed 36 staff, including frontline paramedics, will be sent to cover the event.

The Daily Post revealed last year that a proposal had been put forward to temporarily transfer the workers, and it was feared the cost would fall locally.

via Liverpool Daily Post.

Ambulance delayed over safety fears

Editor — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:40:35 +0000

Ambulance crews were stopped from helping a seriously injured man for almost an hour because paramedics could have been put in danger by brawling yobs, it is claimed.

The 28-year-old man suffered a serious head injury in a brawl shortly after leaving a party in Eldon Street at 3am on Sunday.

He is fighting for his life at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

via The Bolton News.

Man calls ambulance to unblock toilet on Christmas Eve

Editor — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:08:48 +0000

What were you doing on Christmas Eve? If you were wrapping presents in front of the fire, having drinks with friends or stuffing yourself with mince pies, spare a thought for the people working in A&E over the festive season.

You’d think that Christmas would be a time to spare a thought over whether or not your health issue was serious enough for a 999 call, but apparently not according to the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS).

The NWAS have released a list of the most idiotic calls they received over the holidays, which included a male caller who dialled 999 to ask for an ambulance to help unblock his toilet.

Another man called up to say he had toothache, while a woman dialled an ambulance after getting a cotton bud stuck in her ear.

One caller rang up to complain about his itchy eye, although he had been experiencing problems for the previous three weeks.

via AOL Lifestyle UK.

Tragic 999 patient was not an ‘emergency’

Editor — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:30:38 +0000

A coroner has labelled the ambulance service system ‘daft’ following the death of a pensioner.

Betty Henshall, of Hillgate, Stockport, died at Stepping Hill Hospital in December 2008.

Coroner John Pollard ruled at a inquest in Stockport that the 76-year-old died from a gastrointestinal haemorrhage.

But Mr Pollard questioned the ambulance coding system – which he called ‘daft’- after they coded Ms Henshall’s condition as ‘green’, meaning she faced a 60-minute wait for an ambulance.

via Manchester Evening News.

Ambulance bosses ‘failed to keep promise’ claim

Editor — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:22:48 +0000

Ambulance bosses failed to keep a promise to allow paramedics more flexibility over where to take patients for treatment, Tim Farron has claimed.

The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP complained to North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) after paramedics and hospital staff told him of their “exasperation” with current procedures.

Under existing rules, paramedics must follow computer-generated instructions which has meant patients being taken to Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) when they could be treated at Westmorland General Hospital (WGH).

via From The Westmorland Gazette.

Paramedic assault man told he could be jailed

Editor — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:53:49 +0000

A drunken man who assaulted a paramedic as he tried to help him has been warned he faces a possible prison sentence.

Passers-by were so concerned when they saw Barry James Jones, 60, of Fowler Road in Blacon, Chester, asleep on a grass verge that they tried to wake him up and then called an ambulance.

Read full article: Chester Evening Leader .

Paramedic punched in face by patient: Man arrested

Editor — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:11:06 +0000

Two paramedics needed hospital treatment when they were attacked by their patient.

Police were called to assist the paramedics at 2.15am on Thursday after they were called to help a man in Farnworth.

The man punched one them in the face. It is believed the other paramedic was injured when he fell as he tried to help his colleague.

Asiya Jelani, of the North West Ambulance Service, said: “Both members of the ambulance crew sustaining injuries which required hospital treatment. The police were called and the patient was arrested.”

Read full article: This Is Lancashire.

Crushed foot ‘not a priority’

Editor — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:13:44 +0000

A man with a suspected crushed foot lay in agony for an hour and 20 minutes while he waited for an ambulance that never came.

The man was delivering drinks to Castle off-licence Simply Drinks, in Chester Road, when a cage full of two-litre drinks bottles tipped over and on to his foot.

This happened at noon on Thursday and the ambulance service was called immediately.

But at 1.20pm staff from the neighbouring newsagents cancelled the ambulance because the man’s colleagues had reached him from St Helens first.

Read full article: Northwich Guardian.