The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust has called out BEARS twice in two days in North East Essex.
Dr Martin Hargreaves was called out on 12th January at 1200 midday to a road traffic crash in Colchester. On arrival Dr Hargreaves found five patients, including one with potentially life threatening injuries. Along with the ambulance crews and the air ambulance Dr Hargreaves provided initial treatment to all the patients before one was flown to the Royal London Hospital while the others were taken to Colchester General Hospital with various potentially serious injuries.
On Saturday 14th January at 6pm Dr Hargreaves was again called out by the Ambulance Service to a car that had reportedly crashed into a house in Coggeshall. On his arrival Dr Hargreaves found the driver of the car sitting by his car looking at the mess with luckily no injuries.
BEARS is a new charity in Essex formed from the merger of North East Essex Doctors Emergency Service (NEEDES) and Mid Essex Doctors Immediate Care scheme (MEDICS). The scheme is called out by The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust to patients that need an enhanced level of care following serious injury or illness. All the members are volunteer Doctors and Paramedics who have undergone additional training in Immediate Medical Care. Each member is equipped purely through donations at a cost of between £20-25,000.
For further information on BEARS please contact Paul Gates, BEARS Chair on 07971 955689 or bearsmedics@gmail.com.