A fence post smashed through the windshield and impaled the driver through his chest, pinning him to the seat. Children of the night A Cornwall Air Ambulance BO-105 based at RAF St. Mawgan was at the scene within 10 minutes. Paramedics Phil Nelson and Carlton Real, assisted by pilot Paul Longden, had to cut the stake to a manageable size so that the patient could be moved. He was flown to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, and within nine minutes of the helicopter reaching the accident site, a special surgical team was attending to the victim. Within hours of his surgery he was able to make jokes.
Speed is the essence of treatment.
The service is soon to be extended to cover the greater part of the country. The paramedics role will not be to stay and play with the patients, but to give immediate, essential, but skilled life-saving first aid and then transfer them to hospital as quickly as possible. Despite its criticism of paramedics in the UK, even the BBC program acknowledged that, in Staffordshire, the helicopter s speedy response has led to a survival rate from cardiac arrest that is five times the national average. The air ambulance service, particularly in rural areas, offers an even faster response time. This refers to the need to stabilize a patient suffering from severe trauma and shock within 60 minutes.