Welcome

NEEDES is a registered charity which trains, equips, organizes and supports volunteer doctors and paramedics who attend emergencies in support of the ambulance service in Essex.

 

NEEDES members attend between 100-300 incidents per year. 80% are road traffic accidents, 15% are industrial, sporting or other injuries, the remaining 5% are sudden illness.

 

 

 

NEEDES members are called out by the Essex Ambulance Service control operators via radio-pagers to incidents likely to need specialist medical skills.

Trauma and injury is a leading cause of death and incapacity worldwide with 5 million being killed each year. In 2002 road traffic collisions alone caused 1.2 million deaths, and 50 million injuries worldwide at an estimated cost of 518 billion US dollars to society. Injuries are projected to rise over the following 20 years.

NEEDES estimate that the lives of at least two or three people a year are saved by the efforts of NEEDES members, (if NEEDES had not been around these patients would have died – though we would like to stress that this is a team activity and without our Ambulance, Police and Fire colleagues none of this would be possible). Most of these are relatively young people and are restored to good health and back to work. With the introduction of more members to NEEDES and some new skills as well as involvement with new training projects open to police, fire and ambulance medics this number is rising.

In addition many people have their final outcome improved, recovery speeded and their suffering reduced by receiving appropriate Pre Hospital Care from appropriately trained doctors at the scene of the incident. This may vary from triage to the most appropriate hospital (not every hospital is equipped to cope with every type of injury or illness) to provision of specialist medical interventions or equipment at the scene of the incident.

In order to provide the best service possible for the people of Essex and to the ambulance crews we support we rely on being sent to incidents that will benefit from our support. These include:

Any crew request

Persons trapped (RTC, Fire, by machinery)

Shootings / Stabbings / Hangings

RTC particularly pedestrians / motorcyclists with head injuries or crush injuries

Multiple casualty incidents / Major incidents / Confirmed CRBN Incidents

Any Airway or chest injury / trauma

Drowning

Electrocution

Amputations

Fall > 10 feet (with injuries)

Persons under train

Explosions

Status Epilepticus / Any Prolonged fit or seizure / Any fit during pregnancy

Severe burns especially airway burns

Difficult or obstructed labour

Pain relief for children

Traumatic femur fracture (bilateral or unilateral) for application of Sagar splinting

Any incident you feel may benefit from a doctor (pain relief, airway probls, triage, difficult

We can be dispatched directly from the Ambulance service control room or on request of any of the attending ambulance personnel.