Great North Air Ambulance Service: prehospital anaesthesia course

Prehospital anaesthesia (PHA) is an intervention that, over the years, has had its merits debated in crew rooms. In the UK, it has now been accepted as a valuable intervention in certain patients in the prehospital environment.

There are a number of prehospital schemes in the UK with doctors who have PHA in their ‘toolbag’, and this includes the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS). In order to undertake this intervention, practitioners require more than just anaesthetic drugs and familiarity with a laryngoscope.

There are UK guidelines on PHA, agreed by all the national bodies representing practitioners who may be involved in this procedure (Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland; Royal College of Anaesthetists; Joint Royal Ambulances Liaison Committee; College of Emergency Medicine; British Association for Immediate Care; Faculty of Pre-hospital Care of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine).

Paramedics can, and usually do, form a critical part of the team of practitioners required when undertaking PHA. In addition to those paramedics working for an air ambulance service, road crews are increasingly likely to be involved with a patient undergoing PHA. Thus, having an understanding of the procedure and when it may be beneficial, has utility for many paramedics.