LIFE-SAVING roadside blood transfusions are being introduced to the North-East for the first time thanks to a project involving an air ambulance service, a major hospital and a charity.

From early in the New Year The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) will have the capacity to deliver fresh blood supplies to the scene of life-threatening accidents.

This will be the first time in the North of England that blood transfusions will be available outside of a hospital.

The new service is the result of a collaboration between the GNAAS - itself a charity - the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle and the volunteer blood transportation charity, Blood Bikes.

While the roadside transfusion service is offered by some air ambulances in southern England, this is the first of its kind in the north of England.

The concept of carrying chilled blood supplies for use in the most extreme life-threatening emergencies came from techniques used by the military.

Dr Rachel Hawes, a consultant anaesthetist at the RVI in Newcastle and a part-time soldier in the Territorial Army , witnessed the technique being used by military helicopter crews and realised this could be applied in a civilian context.

To allow the service to go live Dr Hawes needed to solve the problem of ensuring blood carried on helicopters stayed fresh and guaranteeing regular supplies.

After research into longer-lasting cool boxes by RVI head of transfusion, Yvonne Scott, the right equipment was sourced and purchased.

The issue of transportation was solved when the volunteer motorbike service Blood Bikes Northumberland and Blood Bikes Cumbria offered their services.

When the service is launched in January, Blood Bikes will transport blood from the RVI to the two GNAAS bases - at Durham Tees Valley Airport and Langwathby, near Penrith – every 24 hours, taking unused blood back to hospital where it can be put to good use.

Dr Hawes said: “This project will bring life-saving treatment to the patient’s point of injury. That could be on the roadside, on a hill top, or in a remote community, in cases where previously the patient has had to wait until they get to hospital. It will make a real difference and we cannot wait to introduce it to the region.”

GNAAS operates three helicopters, 365 days a year, across the North-East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria, responding to about 1,000 call-outs each year. The aircraft are crewed by specialist trauma doctors and paramedics.