Island Paramedics Gain Advanced Critical Care Skills Through New Air Ambulance Partnership

Critically ill patients on the Isle of Wight are set to benefit from a new training partnership between Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance and the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service.

Launched last autumn, the scheme allows selected island paramedics to spend six months working with the air ambulance team, gaining hands-on experience in advanced trauma care, surgical procedures, sedation and cardiac arrest treatment.

Paramedic Izzy Horne is the first to complete the secondment and has now returned to the Island as a fully qualified Critical Care Paramedic.

She said the training means island crews can now deliver “a similar level of advanced care on the ground – 20 hours a day, seven days a week”, even when the helicopter is unavailable.

Around 10% of the air ambulance’s annual missions are to the Isle of Wight.

The service says the partnership is already improving coordination and patient outcomes.

More information is available at hiowaa.org.