Health Minister, John Hill, has launched a new aero-medical retrieval service to get emergency teams out to critically injured and sick children and newborns faster than ever before.
Minister Hill said. “MedStar Kids specialises in the emergency care and treatment of young children and babies.”
“There are now teams of specialist doctors, nurses and paramedics based at Adelaide Airport 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, ready to go at a moment’s notice.
“When you have a very sick or newborn baby, every second counts.
Premier Mike Rann said the new service, MedStar Kids, also transfers children and their parents between hospitals across South Australia.
“Before Medstar set up its adult retrieval service last year, the average time between receiving an emergency call and getting a team on their way to the scene was 35 minutes.
“The new service has cut that average time down to just ten minutes.
“Since the launch of the adult MedStar service in March 2009, the specialist teams have successfully retrieved over 1300 seriously ill and injured adults.”
Dr Jane Cocks, MedStar Kids, clinical director, said the service is expected to help with around 800 retrievals and transfers across the state each year.
“The children’s retrieval service in South Australia was previously carried out by staff at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre, and they provided an excellent level of care.
“The benefit of having a dedicated MedStar Kids retrieval team based at Adelaide Airport is that we will be able to reach the patient and start treatment quicker than ever before.
“Bring able to provide early emergency medical care for seriously ill and injured babies and children makes a big difference to their chance of survival and their long-term recovery.”
