The Children's
Air Ambulance transfer new born baby across the country!
ON Monday, 25 November
2013, The Children's Air Ambulance (TCAA) were called upon to
transfer a new born baby from Liverpool to London. The
Coventry based team received a call from the NHS's North Wales and
North West Transport Service (NWTS) requesting the use of TCAA's
state of the art helicopter to make the transfer.
The baby, around a week old, was transferred to a Paediatric
Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in London to access specialist cardiac
care.
TCAA pilots John Tipper and Paul Hogan successfully transferred the
baby, along with the baby's medical team, from the hospital in
Liverpool to the PICU in London in just one hour. A transfer by road
would have taken at least four hours.
Paul Hogan said:- "It's great to help these little ones. It
took us one hour to fly the baby down to London versus four to five
hours by road and we returned the teams just as quickly so they are
available for any other children in need."
TCAA's helicopter is specifically designed to act as a transfer
service for critically ill children and babies across England and
Wales. It can reach speeds of up to 200mph and is one of the fastest
civilian helicopters available.
It is estimated that approximately 5,800 critically ill children and
babies require transferring between hospitals every year, with the
majority of these transfers taking place by land. TCAA can fly a
baby from a local hospital to a PICU around four times faster than a
journey by road.
The Charity receives no Government funding and believes babies
should be able to reach specialist treatment no matter where they
live. The faster a baby gets to a specialist hospital, the greater
their chance of survival and recovery.
CCTV image released after member
of staff assaulted at Liverpool South Parkway
BRITISH
Transport Police Officers have released to the media CCTV images
of a man they want to speak to in connection with an assault on a
member of rail staff.
The assault happened shortly after 12.30pm, on Sunday, 17 November
2013, as the train guard travelled on the 12.22pm Liverpool to
Middlesbrough service.
PC Shaun Lee said:- "As the train travelled between Liverpool
Lime Street and Liverpool South Parkway the guard checked the
tickets of all passengers and discovered the suspect was travelling
without having paid the correct fare. The man subsequently refused
to pay for his ticket and refused to give his details for a penalty
fare. When the train arrived at South Parkway the man was asked to
leave the train. He refused and became abusive and aggressive and
then threw a can of energy drink at the guard, which struck the back
of his head and caused swelling and soreness to his ear and jaw. The
man then left the train and walked off into the Station."
Enquiries to date have enabled officers to isolate CCTV images of a
man they would like to speak to about the incident.
PC Lee added:- "If you recognise the man, or have any
information about the incident, please call the British Transport
Police on:- 0800 40 50 40 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on:-
0800 555 111." |
|
Children's
charity introduces iPads to aid the development of teenagers with
cerebral palsy
WITH thanks to funding from
Jamie Carragher's '23 Foundation', Stick 'n' Step has
been able to purchase 6 iPads for children aged 11+ to use during
some sessions at the educational centre. The charity hopes that the
purchase of 34 specialist apps that have been installed on each iPad
will further develop the teenagers' fine motor skills, as well as
learning ways to use touch screen technology.
Stick 'n' Step provides free conductive education for children with
cerebral palsy. Conductive education is a specialised educational
approach that aids physical development and can significantly
improve body movements that don't always come naturally to people
with cerebral palsy. Children who attend Stick 'n' Step use
conductive education techniques to learn basic functionalities like
how to talk, stand, walk, tie shoelaces, pour a drink, brush their
teeth and a whole manner of other essential life skills.
Commented Sarah Smithson, operations manager at Stick 'n' Step:-
"The aim with every child that comes to Stick 'n' Step is to equip
them with the right tools to give them the best possible chance at
leading a fully independent adult life. Touch screen technology has
now become an integral part of everyday life for society and we know
that like many other teenagers, our teens will want to enjoy all of
the benefits these devices have to offer. So it's important to us
that we work with them on overcoming the challenges they each face
when using gadgets such as iPads. These challenges might be as
simple as keeping a good grip of the device and pointer, rotating
the screen view or using the on screen keypad to type. Whatever the
challenge, we will work with our children by nurturing their ability
to do all of these things on the iPads and much more. We are also
aware that elements of schooling are turning digital; such as
checking GCSE results online and completing and submitting homework
via email; and so we want to give the teenagers the best possible
chance at being able to do all of these things and much more,
alongside their peers."
The 6 iPads along with 6 fit-for-purpose protective iPad covers were
purchased in early October (2013). They have already been put to
great use by the charity and were first used by the young adults
during a visit from the charity's patron, Dame Lorna Muirhead DBE in
November. Dame Lorna is a child healthcare and birth professional.
Her visit was perfectly timed with the introduction of the new iPads
and she was able to see 1st hand the benefits of integrating touch
screen technology with a conductive education approach.
For more information about Stick 'n' Step, contact the centre on:-
0151 638 0888 or visit:-
sticknstep.org.
|