London air ambulance launches app

London’s Air Ambulance charity has launched a new mobile app to transmit incident information more rapidly and reduce dispatch times by up to two minutes.

The air ambulance’s advanced trauma teams are dispatched to around 2,000 patients each year by the London Ambulance Service emergency operations centre, using helicopters during the day and rapid response cars at night or when weather is too poor to fly.

The new app, developed by mobile app developer Mubaloo and digital communications provider EE, automatically transmits details of any incidents suitable for the air ambulance service over 4G to the trauma teams, including incident information and navigation details with real-time flight and route data.

The app, which runs on 4G-equipped tablets, has reduced the time it takes for the air ambulance service to dispatch its trauma teams by up to two minutes, with rapid response cars being dispatched in as little as ten seconds.

EE and Mubaloo studied the dispatch process in detail while developing the app, including reviewing how data from 999 calls is processed, the on-board requirements of the helicopter response team, and the navigation challenges facing the air ambulance service’s road response teams. 

Dr Gareth Grier, a consultant at London’s Air Ambulance, said the new app could prove vital for patients with severely critical injuries needing additional specialist treatment on-scene.

“Even reducing the time we take to get to our patients by ten seconds could, in some instances, mean the difference between life and death.” 

 Gerry McQuade, EE’s chief marketing officer, said the app is a “fantastic example of how 4G and mobile technology is helping organisations to improve performance, even in the most critical applications such as emergency services and healthcare”.

 Sarah Weller, Mubaloo’s London managing director, said the app will support the air ambulance service’s “truly mobile operation” by improving its critical processes.