North Herts Immediate Care Scheme

The North Herts Immediate Care Scheme is made up of a group of local doctors with specialist training in pre-hospital care who provide immediate medical assistance and treatment in conjunction with our highly trained paramedics and rescue services at the scenes of serious road traffic and other accidents. It has been shown that some 10% of the 5000 deaths each year on our roads could have been prevented with immediate and skilled medical care, amounting to 500 preventable deaths a year. Advanced medical treatment in the first hour following injury, the Golden Hour, has been shown to improve outcomes, and the average time to extricate a casualty from vehicle wreckage is 90 minutes. This service is not provided for by the NHS. These doctors avail themselves to the ambulance service during their free time and in addition to their regular jobs, the service being totally voluntary. We therefore seek money to train them in the unique skills needed as well as purchase the specialist medical equipment they carry. This scheme is a registered charity and a member of the British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS). www.basics.org.uk.