FOLLOWING on from the announcement of its collaboration with the RAF, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) has revealed it's now working with another vital service.

The independent charity, which brings an advanced critical care team to the most seriously ill and injured patients on the Island, is now collaborating with the Maritime Coastguard Agency.

The partnership between the two services will help to safely transfer time-critical patients with an unknown coronavirus status from the Isle of Wight to hospitals on the mainland.

Utilising the larger Maritime Coastguard Agency aircraft, doctors and specialist critical care paramedics from the life-saving charity can continue to safely treat critically ill and injured patients while transferring them to hospital.

The front of the aircraft is sealed off to protect pilots, who cannot wear PPE while flying, from any airborne droplets, and the back of the aircraft is fitted out with a washable decontamination lining.

Furthermore, the larger aircraft enables the charity to carry ventilated patients onboard.

Following a joint training exercise at the charity’s Airbase in Thruxton, the new inter-agency, alongside the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service, were called in to action for their first joint mission last week to attend to a patient in Bembridge, who had suffered a serious head injury.

Dr Bentley Waller, who was on scene for the first joint missions, said: "We came together seamlessly to form one team, allowing us to deliver the right care to the patient at the right time, despite the challenges posed by the current coronavirus pandemic.”

Full PPE has been made available to the charity’s doctors and specialist critical care paramedics in order to ensure that risks of infection are minimised when they attend an incident.