Local Doctors launch new scheme in North Wales
A new charity is to be launched which will see doctors attending roadside accidents and other serious incidents for the first time in North Wales.
The North Wales Emergency Doctor Service is being formed by three doctors but it is hoped more funds can be raised to increase membership.
Working in conjunction with the Welsh Ambulance Service, the doctors will be alerted when serious accidents occur.
It is hoped they will then be able to attend the scene and provide support to paramedics.
The charity's chairman, Dr Suman Mitra, consultant anaesthetist at Ysybty Gwynedd, Bangor, said: "The idea started in north Wales because of the geography and how spread out things are. "The nearest big hospital, if someone has a serious head trauma, is in Liverpool."
"We sometimes find that patients that have gone through an accident on the road or even fallen off a mountain, could have had a better outcome if things were done slightly different.
"Often, it's better for the paramedic if expert help is on the scene."
Each doctor will be supplied with £15,000 worth of equipment in their car. Like most BASICS doctorshey will work voluntarily during their own free time, or in "downtime" during their normal working day.
Joining Dr Mitra will be GP Mike Bloom, who lives in Conwy but works in Llanfair PG, Anglesey, and A&E consultant Dr Aruni Sen in Wrexham.
Dr Mitra added: "My overall ambition is that we get more doctors involved, but the problem is that because we don't have money we can not kit them out."
It is hoped the service will be running by the end of May, and the charity will hold an official launch on July 4th at St Asaph Oriel Country Hotel.