Friday, January 4, 2013

** UK medic collapses and dies in street Christmas Eve;cause of death not yet known

** New Zealand ambulance brass look to cut hospital transports by half;pilot using phone paramedic begun

UNITED KINGDOM NEWS

** Ambulance staff in Norwich are mourning the loss of a colleague after Hingham paramedic David Money, 56, collapsed and died in the street Christmas Eve. The Evening News 24 (Peter Walsh/Dan Grimmer/December 28) said his body was discovered by a passerby in the early morning hours. Money, who worked for East of England Ambulance Service, was taken to an area hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later. Autopsy results are inconclusive pending both toxicology and histology findings. Money had worked his current EMS job for 28 years. Foul play is not suspected.

NEW ZEALAND NEWS

** St. John Ambulance is attempting to cut hospital transports by 55 per cent. That is the word from Radio New Zealand (January 2) which said the service is trialing an approach known as secondary triage. Under the pilot, non emergency help hailers are connected via telephone to a paramedic who dispenses appropriate medical advice. Tested by both St. John and Wellington Free Ambulance in October, the pilot is also being undertaken in Christchurch and Hamilton. A decision on whether or not to fully implement the idea will be made around March after an evaluation by the services involved and the Ministry of Health. St. John says some 80,000 patients are unnecessarily transported to hospital each year.