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Live video help for 999 callers will run every day

Alex Dunlopand
Mariam Issimdar
News imageNIKKI FOX/BBC An advanced paramedic looks at his computer screen and sees the moment when ambulance staff arrive to help a bystander who has witnessed someone have a cardiac arrest and has been doing CPR. He is looking at the screen with his head and shoulders and NHS lanyard showing to the right of screen. The computer screen with the image of the dummy patient and bystander is on the left. The computer also shows a map of the location where the patient is and an image of himself.NIKKI FOX/BBC
Ambulance control room paramedics guide bystanders to carry out chest compressions via video link until paramedics arrive

A scheme offering live video support to 999 callers reporting a cardiac arrest will be extended for another year.

Since last summer, East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) control room staff and advanced paramedics trialled coaching callers on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) via a streaming platform.

EEAST medical director Dr Simon Walsh said: "What's happening live through the video calls is making a real difference to the quality of chest compressions and the correct use of defibrillation."

Following the pilot, it will now be extended from four days a week to seven days.

Some 20 advanced paramedics have been trained to instruct people via their mobile phones on how best to resuscitate a patient.

Advanced paramedic Zoey Spurgeon works on the EEAST call desk. Speaking about a recent phone call, she said: "We were able to dial into the scene, improve CPR of the bystanders around the patient.

"We changed the defibrillator pads to the right position, and we managed to get a return of spontaneous circulation on scene prior to the ambulance crew."

She said being able to see the situation meant she could guide chest compression and improve hand positions, "so the patient's able to then have a cardiac shock in that position to get an effective outcome".

News imageShaun Whitmore/BBC Woman wearing green ambulance uniform with red epaulettes and the NHS logo sits at a desk and is looking at a screen. She has a headset and is talking to a microphone. She is in a control room with other similar personnel in the room. Shaun Whitmore/BBC
Advanced paramedics said using the live video technology was "fantastic"
News imageSTEVE HUBBARD/BBC A woman attempts CPR on a sim dummy used to simulate emergency situations. The dummy is dressed in a zip-up tracksuit top and has its head turned to one side. You can see its teeth. The woman has her arms out straight in front of her and has clasped one hand on top of the other on the dummy's chest. She has blonde hair and is looking at his chest to check for breaths. A phone is held to the right of the screen by a second person looking at a video call. It shows an advanced paramedic from the East of England Ambulance Service sat at a computer, guiding her on what to do. STEVE HUBBARD/BBC
A live video streaming trial will be extended for another year to callers seeking help for cardiac arrest

During the initial six-month trial, paramedics carried out 280 video calls out of some 1,100 cases involving a suspected cardiac arrest.

Liam Sagi, an EEAST advanced paramedic for the past 10 years, said: "What we have seen is that we've definitely got at least 10 people who have survived a cardiac arrest who've had a video call with us, and they've gone home neurologically intact, which is the really important thing."

Sagi said survival rates for cardiac arrests had not "really changed in 40 years" with only one in 10 people leaving hospital after a cardiac arrest.

"Those crucial minutes right at the beginning of the cardiac arrest really make the difference to whether someone does go home to their family," he added.

According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, starting resuscitation immediately could quadruple the chances of survival.

News imageNIKKI FOX/BBC Advanced paramedic Liam Sagi outside the ambulance station at Bury St Edmunds. It is newly built and has a winged roof. Mr Sagi is wearing a green uniform with an NHS badge and ambulance service crest. He has red stripes on his shoulders. There is an ambulance parked in the background.NIKKI FOX/BBC
Advanced paramedic Liam Sagi said 80% of cardiac arrests happened in the home, so there was a high chance people would be able to help a loved one

"We're early days at this point, and ultimately, when we have enough data, we hope to be able to demonstrate improved survival for patients in cardiac arrest," Walsh said.

Appropriate video technology has been available for several years, but barriers to its use in the NHS included "consideration for privacy and the security of that data", Walsh added.

He said overcoming those considerations meant the ambulance trust was now the first in the UK to use video technology in this way.

It also meant ambulance crews could be deployed more efficiently across the counties served by the trust, namely Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

News imageShaun Whitmore/BBC Walsh stands in a room with a brick wall behind him. On the wall are posters and doors are either side of the wall. He is wearing green ambulance uniform with red epaulettes and the NHS logo as well as the EEAST embroidered badge on his chest.. A lanyard is around his neck. Shaun Whitmore/BBC
Dr Simon Walsh says the trust has seen its best survival rates in a decade

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