Advanced Paramedic Response Unit

Welcome to the Advanced Paramedic Response Unit (APRU) website which has been deigned to provide you with more information about the vital service. The APRU is an Advanced Paramedic initiative which began on 1 Feb 2009. The provision consists of a group of Paramedics trained in Emergency Pre Hospital Critical Care, operating under the umbrella of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Advanced Paramedics bring specialist emergency care to seriously ill and injured patients; often performing life saving techniques and interventions when and where the patient needs it, at home or on the roadside. This trailblazing level of care has only been possible because of the generosity and support of the public and organisations that have helped to fund the additional equipment and specialist training. Please explore this site to find out the work we do and how you can help.

Operations

The APRU Paramedics activate from an Emergency Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) which operates 24 hours a day seven days a week under the direction of the Emergency Operating Centre based in Norwich. The RRV is fully equipped with pre hospital critical care equipment and drugs, some of which are normally only found in Hospitals. As well as responding to 999 calls, the resource can be dispatched to assist Ambulance Crews with the most serious medical emergencies and trauma incidents, such as cardiac arrest; respiratory failure; stabbings; Road Traffic Collisions and falls from height. The APRU follows a strict governance programme to ensure maximum safety for emergency personnel and patients alike. Training and key competency sign off is conducted bi monthly, with Paramedics regularly giving up much of their spare time to maintain currency.

Emergency Equipment

The APRU carries standard emergency equipment plus additional specialist monitoring, drugs and critical care packs. Recently the team have been trialling a new device for treating elderly patients who are short of breath, secondary to Left Ventricular Failure. The device known as Continues Positive Pressure Ventilation (CPAP), can be immediately applied to the patient once the Paramedic arrives on scene, thus providing the patient with life saving therapy. The initiative is proving extremely successful with 32 patients benefiting from the device in the first 6 months of the trial.

Additional Skills and Procedures

The team has received extended training in the following areas:
Mechanical and visual monitoring; pre hospital procedural sedation and analgesia; pre hospital anaesthetics; special patient groups including the young, elderly and obese; transfer and retrieval medicine; specialist incidents; respiratory failure and non invasive ventilation; post resuscitation care; advanced airway management and the failed airway algorithm and the pre hospital management of multi-system trauma patients.

Specialist Equipment

The EZIO system is used by the team to administer fluid and medication to ill and injured patients.