A LIFESAVING charity covering Dorset has been shortlisted for five categories at this year’s Air Ambulances UK Awards of Excellence.

The team at Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) has been shortlisted for the categories Practitioner of the Year, Doctor of the Year, Special Incident of the Year, and Charity Team of the Year.

The fifth nod is for a collaboration between DSAA, the Wales and West Acute Transport for Children Service, Bristol Children’s Hospital Trauma Team Leaders (BCHTTL) and the Southampton Oxford Retrieval Team (SORT), which has been shortlisted in the Innovation of the Year category.

DSAA’s Patient and Family Liaison Nurses, Jo Petheram and Kirsty Caswell have been shortlisted in the Practitioner of the Year category for exceptional clinical and professional duty, while Dr Phil Hyde is the Medical Lead for DSAA and has been shortlisted in the Doctor of the Year category.

The incident which sees DSAA become a finalist in the Special Incident of the Year category took place in May last year, during the height of the pandemic.

It involved members of DSAA’s critical care team Dr Stewart McMorran, Jo Hernandez and Pete Appleby (Specialist Practitioners in Critical Care) and pilot Captain Max Hoskins.

The incident demonstrated 'an astonishing chain of care in order to achieve a wonderful outcome' for a patient who suffered a cardiac arrest whilst cycling along a disused railway line (trailway).

Bill Sivewright, CEO of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance said: “Everyone at DSAA is immensely proud of the work we do to continually improve patient outcomes through great teamwork."

Simmy Akhtar, CEO of Air Ambulances UK, said: "The professionalism, excellence and dedication of all those who work and volunteer within the air ambulance community is extraordinary.

"These awards recognise their vital contribution to providing advanced pre-hospital critical care to people who suddenly become critically injured or ill, saving lives and improving patient outcomes every day across the UK."

The Air Ambulances UK Awards of Excellence will take place virtually on Friday, December 3.