Medical emergencies team to work 24/7

An emergency medical charity will soon be providing life-saving work round the clock for people in the region.

Magpas (Mid anglian general practitioner accident service) has drawn up ambitious plans to become the first dedicated 24-hour emergency response service - and will now be known as Helimedix 24/7.

The charity has been saving lives for more than four decades and now reaches patients in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex.

It has formed partnerships with the East Anglian Air Ambulance Service, police and East of England Ambulance Service which entrust the charity to ensure the highest clinical standards are maintained on their missions.

Daryl Brown, spokesman for Helimedix 24/7, said: 'Magpas has always been an innovative charity that puts the patient first. We have for some considerable time been active for up to 18 hours a day but will soon become a 24/7, 365 day a year service.'

The charity operates two life-saving schemes. The emergency medical team is made up of highly trained doctors and paramedics able to save lives at the scenes of road traffic accidents and other serious incidents. The teams fly on the East Anglian Air Ambulance and Cambridge Police Helicopter.

There are also community first responders, non-medical volunteers who save lives in their local town or village and are fully trained and provided with vital equipment they need to make a difference to patients. The types of emergencies they attend include choking, cardiac arrests and strokes.

The Cambridge-based charity will be making the changes, upgrading its base facilities and improving its air ambulance visitor centre at RAF Wyton later this year.

Helimedix 24/7 teams bring Accident and Emergency level treatment to the scene when patients have suffered serious injuries. It works alongside ambulance service paramedics, the police and the fire and rescue service.