As emergency doctors celebrate 30 years of saving lives across Cumbria they look to a future likely to be busier than ever
Often at night and in bad weather, particularly when air support is grounded, a group of highly trained doctors volunteer their services – and have been for the past three decades.
In that time hundreds of lives have been saved and prognoses improved by the swift action of the BEEP Doctors, 13 skilled clinicians who all have extensive backgrounds in emergency medicine.
But as these unpaid volunteers, who are on call 24/7, look back at a job well done, a service which this year earned them The King’s Award for Voluntary Service – the highest accolade for charities in the UK and considered to be the equivalent of an MBE for volunteer-led organisations – they are also mindful of a future that will need their skills even more.
Drownings, road accidents, construction and farming incidents have taken the BEEP Doctors all over Cumbria, from Longtown in the north, to Egremont in the west, Millom in the south and Nenthead in the east, sometimes even crossing over the boundaries with neighbouring counties, as annual callouts average around the 300 mark.
As soon as a 999 call comes into the North West Ambulance Service it is triaged by the handler and, depending on its severity, sent to the critical incident hub. If it seems to be a life or death scenario then as well as paramedics the hub contacts a BEEP Doctor.
Their specialist skills complement the work of paramedics bringing enhanced pre-hospital emergency care, providing an extra level of medical intervention not normally available, until the patient reaches hospital. This stabilises the patient much sooner than would otherwise be the case and therefore improves their chances of a better long-term outcome.
On receiving the prestigious King’s Award for Voluntary Service last year, the chair and founder of BEEP Doctors Dr Theo Weston MBE said: “This is a massive honour and we are immensely proud to have been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service. In my view it is by far and away the best thing to have happened to the BEEP Doctors charity in our 30-year history.”
Dr Weston, who recently retired after giving 20 years as a doctor with Great North Air Ambulance Service doctor and is also a member of Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team, adds: “We don’t do this work to receive these honours, we do what we do to help people who are sick and injured at the roadside and the reward for us is seeing people survive where they would otherwise not have or survive in a better condition, but it is absolutely fantastic that the work we do has been recognised in this way.”
The pressures are growing, however, thanks to the vagaries of a modern world. On top of its half million population, Cumbria attracts an estimated 20 million visitors a year, a huge groundswell of which come by car, with many taking part in higher risk activities such as climbing, fell running, hiking, cycling, flying and water sports.
Busy, unfamiliar, often isolated roads and tricky driving conditions risk motoring accidents. Fans of outdoor pursuits may get into trouble in challenging and changeable conditions, while residents are taken ill or injured as they go about their daily lives.
When incidents happen BEEP Doctors can carry out some surgical procedures, such as inserting chest drains, pre-hospital anaesthetics and administer drugs that most road crew paramedics cannot, such as ketamine/fentanyl, offering pain relief and allowing fracture manipulation.
BEEP Doctor Chris Moss says: “The ambulance service does an amazing job under enormous pressure and we attend a huge number of jobs to support paramedics with more complicated work.
“And the cost of the service is going up year on year. In fact, we are so busy we have managed to secure funding for a new role, a community emergency officer.”
This position, to be piloted for a year, will co-ordinate a variety of work and form a health promotion service to teach basic life support skills in the community.
“It’s a very exciting role because a lot of what we do people aren’t aware of as it is at night or by the roadside,” says Chris. “So, the person in the new role will give talks, attend events and speak more widely of our work.”
By spreading the word, the doctors hope to raise much-needed funding, both donations and sponsorship.
It costs £25,000 to kit out a new BEEP doctor, including monitors, essential drugs and other key equipment and around £3,000 a year for ongoing training. The service relies solely on public donations and receives no government or NHS funding.
It relies on people like 13-year-old Tom Taylor who, just before Christmas, raised around £6,000 by walking for 24 hours, covering more than 30 miles, while towing his kayak around the streets of Penrith.
Another recent donor is The Beacon Lodge of Freemasons, at Penrith, which has given £1,700 supplemented by the Cumberland and Westmorland Province’s Matching Fund. Its treasurer Alex Parker says: “I have always been aware of the good work that they do at serious road traffic accidents and other incidents and so felt it would be a really good charity to support.”
To mark the 30th anniversary, BEEP Doctors has launched a Pedal for Life campaign to encourage people to get out on their bikes and improve their physical and mental health.
Theo joined a group of riders cycling 260 miles around the perimeter of Cumbria while Chris is cycling from Penrith to Split, in Croatia.
Theo was joined by supporters including Rob Douglas, a member of West Lakes Rotary Club, and Jen Turnbull, a former BEEP Doctors’ patient.
There was also Tim Taylor, Sean Duffy and Dave Willetts, all of whom are members, like Theo, of an informal group of cyclists, The Wednesday Wheelers, which meets weekly to go cycling in the Penrith area.
BEEP Doctors operations manager Jo Blackburn says: “The Pedal for Life campaign is a way of us inviting the community to join us in our celebration of 30 years as an organisation by doing something healthy.
“We are hoping to inspire as many people as possible to hop on their bikes and ride. It might be just a few miles as a family group or something more challenging. The campaign is also about raising awareness of BEEP Doctors and, where possible, people might choose to get sponsored for their rides and donate the money to us.”
beepdoctors.co.uk/ways-to-donate
More features like this can be found in the July issue of Cumbria Life, in shops now, until July 17. To subscribe to Cumbria Life, save 25% per issue and receive a £10 voucher visit cumbrialife.co.uk
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