Pair win excellence award for saving man after cardiac arrest

Two local air ambulance staff have been honoured with a prestigious award for their roles in saving a man’s life after he had a cardiac arrest at a rugby club.

The West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) Excellence in the Community award was presented to Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance’s critical care paramedic Jenny Conway and Dr Ali Husain.

The award was for their clinical skills and great all round team work during the call out in March last year. WMAS staff who also dealt with the emergency call were also honoured.

A man in his early 40s had collapsed at the sports club in Coventry after suffering a cardiac arrest but thanks to the actions of our crew and WMAS staff he has since gone on to make a good recovery.

It was one of a number of excellence awards presented by West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust at Copthorne Hotel in Brierley Hill on Thursday night.

Richard Clayton, Director of Operations at The Air Ambulance Service, said: ”We are delighted and extremely proud of the team. This was a fantastic example of chain of survival working at its best and a clear example of the benefits of the air ambulance service night critical care car. “

West Midlands Police officers were first on the scene on the night before West Midlands Air Ambulance and the local air ambulance were called.

Our night car was launched last year and carries the same lifesaving equipment that is used on the helicopter including a defibrillator, cardiac monitor, a ventilator and an automated CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) device.

On‐board doctors and critical care paramedics also have access to critical care drugs and equipment usually available only in hospital emergency departments.

The night car service takes over from the air ambulance after dark and operates 365 days per year.

We need to raise an additional £200,000 per year to keep the service on the road and are currently campaigning for donations to help it fund the year ahead.