Donations fund new baby pod

Image: Members from the Lions Clubs across Somerset present £7,600 to the crew of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance at the charity’s airbase (DSAA)

Members of local Lions Clubs have raised £7,600 for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance as part of a fundraising campaign aimed at raising enough for the charity to purchase a specialist ‘baby pod’. The device will be used to provide inter-hospital transfers of critically ill children.

DSAA explained that in the south and southwest regions of England, critically ill and injured children receive specialist care at two centres – Bristol Children’s Hospital and Southampton Children’s Hospital. Both have specific retrieval teams for safely moving children from district general hospitals to their specialist centres. The charity’s new device will enable DSAA’s critical care team of doctors and paramedics to safely transport small infants in a similar manner to the specialist retrieval teams.

The pod will integrate with existing stretcher systems currently used onboard the helicopter. It consists of a light-weight carbon fibre outer shell, transparent shields for viewing the patient, a vacuum mattress with safety straps and a shock absorbent foam inner layer.

The money raised by the Lions Clubs will be used to purchase the device (approximately £5,000), along with an initial supply of warming pads for the pod and its integration into the aircraft.

Bill Sivewright, DSAA’s CEO, said: “We cannot thank the Lions Clubs enough. Their generous donation will help us to make a significant contribution to the lives of a very vulnerable group of patients. The purchase of the Baby Pod 2 will make such a difference to so many lives and once again highlights our continued drive for providing clinical excellence to the patients we serve.”

He added: “We are currently working with the paediatric retrieval teams at Southampton General Hospital and Bristol Royal Hospital for Children to ensure that all aspects of clinical and aviation safety are in place and anticipate that the Baby Pod will be brought into use later this year, once all the clearances have been completed.”