East Midlands Ambulance Service paramedic, from Bourne, launches drone campaign

A paramedic wants to see drones brought in to help deliver life-saving kit to emergency scenes after a decade of frustration.

Trevor Wain, from Bourne, has invested in a drone and commercial drone pilot’s licence as part of a drive to use the unmanned aerial vehicles to deliver equipment such as defibrillators and blood kits to emergencies before the ambulance arrives.

The East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) paramedic thinks the scheme would massively help in Lincolnshire where ambulances face long drives to emergency calls and where, in remote rural locations, a defibrillator could be far from hand.

“When I was a student they were talking about using drones to deliver defibrillators and I thought it was a great idea back then and I’m surprised that it still hasn’t happened,” Trevor said.

“A few months ago I bought myself a drone as a bit of a hobby and it started me thinking again, why hasn’t this happened? I started my own project to to see if I can do anything about it.

“Lincolnshire, in particular, is a perfect location for it.

“The ambulance service has to travel long distances to get to their patients and if you can fly a drone in a straight line to that emergency you are going to save 20 or 30 minutes.”

Trevor has put his idea to the Civil Aviation Authority as well as EMAS and the paramedic-led Special Operations Response Team (SORT) and Hazardous Area Response Team (HART).

“They can all be easily transported by a drone system in an emergency before the ambulance arrives,” he added.

“These are emergencies which are seconds-dependant, let alone minutes, so anything we can do to get there quicker, that start-up process is going to preserve life and aid recovery.”

Currently the CAA does not allow drones to be flown beyond the visual line of sight, but Trevor has been given encouragement by trials held by the CAA with Project Lifeline delivering drones to long-distance emergency scenes.

But even within the current visual line of sight restrictions, Trevor believes drones can lend a vital hand.

He said: “There’s still a great need for that, for search and rescue, real-time aerial footage of disasters, providing footage for debrief, training and investigations.

“It can monitor dangerous and unstable environments such as floods and chemical spills.”

Trevor speaks about the lifesaving promise of drones with first-hand experience and says he has been on calls where the use of drones delivering well-maintained defibrillators could have prevented deaths.

“I don’t know what it is about this project, but I’m really passionate about it and I want to see it come to fruition,” he said.

“I’d like to part of a pioneering team. If I could do that I would be incredibly proud of how many people I’d be able to help. I’m in it for the long haul.”

Trevor believes they would prove cost-effective and ‘relatively cheap’ in comparison with an ambulance.

“You can probably get three or four for the cost of an ambulance, let alone a helicopter,” he said.

“For a decent drone it’s £30,000 fully set up with extra batteries, but even then you could drop it down to £7,000 for one that’s less advanced.”

He added: “It is just me for the time being, but I can see this growing with the right kind of support and the right people.

“I know there are big companies that are going to find it easier to do this, but I genuinely believe that if you want something to happen, a single person can make that happen.”