11 December 2022

Lifesaving trolley for emergency case patients

You are a critically ill patient being brought in by helicopter to receive specialist care from the major trauma unit at University Hospital Southampton. You are transferred from the helicopter to the hospital via a specialist trolley, designed for every possible need during the transfer.

Amanda Turner, Associate Care group manager for emergency care, says: “Through Southampton Hospitals Charity, we’ve been able to fund a new Stryker transfer trolley.

This can be used to move patients from the helicopter to the emergency department to stabilise their condition, or onto the neurological or paediatric intensive care units for specialist care and treatment.

Over the last year alone, the emergency department has seen 128 patients transferred from the helicopters.

Our most common transfers are from road traffic accidents, cardiac arrests, and people who have fallen off their horses. It is the quickest way to get patients to hospital for urgent and often lifesaving treatment.

We also see quite a few secondary transfers from Jersey or Guernsey via the Coastguard when patients are too sick to fly unaccompanied by a medical professional from their local hospital.

The trolley has dedicated space for oxygen and drips to provide medication on route and can even handle extra weight for when patients have a cardiac arrest and the medics need to provide chest compressions until they reach the emergency department.

Thank you so much for everyone for supporting Southampton Hospitals Charity and making this possible. The trolley is already in use for our patients!”

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