Great Western Air Ambulance Charity - 28 June 2023

About Great Western Air Ambulance Charity

Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) is a registered charity providing pre-hospital critical care and air ambulance service across Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, North Somerset, Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, and parts of Wiltshire.

When someone has a life-threatening illness or injury, seconds count and GWAAC could be the difference between life and death. The air ambulance is a vital service for your area, but what you may not know is that GWAAC is a charity and only exists because of donations and fundraising from our community.

Speakers

Vicki Brown 

Our keynote speaker, Vicki Brown, talked about her journey with GWAAC and how she is pushing boundaries within the paramedic profession. 

Vicki is an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Critical Care (ACP-CC) working at GWAAC. She has worked in the ambulance service for 21 years and in HEMS for 17 of those.  

Vicki was the first person in the South Western Ambulance Service Trust (SWAST) to be appointed as an ACP-CC and the first in the country to get onto the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care (FPHC) Register of Consultant (Level 8) Practitioners by qualifying from a purely, paramedic background.

Vicki continues to push boundaries to further develop paramedic practice and to inspire others to achieve their best. Learn more about Vicki Brown.

Callum Sutton

Following a successful paramedic career, Callum joined GWAAC in 2021. He had worked as a solo paramedic providing early intervention to patients in hostile and high threat areas.

Last year Callum qualified as Specialist Paramedic in Critical Care after completing his masters degree in Specialist Paramedic Practise and lecturing to new paramedic students at university.

I have always been interested in pre-hospital critical care as I think it is a chance to make a real difference to patients and their families, and GWAAC has a reputation for being a leading critical care provider. 

Learn more about Callum Sutton.

Dr Richard Jeavons

Richard Jeavons is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and a Critical Care Dr for GWAAC. He has been with GWAAC since 2017 and has just completed two years as GWAACs Deputy Medical Director.

Jonathan Benger

Jonathan is Professor of Emergency Care in the School of Health and Social Wellbeing at UWE Bristol, and a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator. His main research interests relate to cardiac arrest, emergency and pre-hospital care, service organization and delivery, and design research.

In his clinical work, Jonathan is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and also does regular shifts with the Great Western Air Ambulance, which he established as its first Medical Advisor between 2007 and 2011.

Jonathan is also the Chief Medical Officer of NICE, having joined the organization in January 2023. Prior to this he was the Interim Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO) at NHS England (2022), the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of NHS Digital (2019 to 2022), and the National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care at NHS England (2013 to 2019).

Read more about Jonathan Benger. 

Listen to the GWAAC talk on SoundCloud

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