East Anglian Air Ambulance

Weald Refrigeration have recently worked with East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) and their Blood on Board project.

East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) is now permanently able to deliver blood transfusions as a core part of its life-saving service.

Following an urgent fundraising appeal made by EAAA in May, the air ambulance charity, which covers Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, is now able to carry packed red blood cells and freeze-dried plasma on every mission.

The key steps required to get this life-saving treatment to the patient:

1. O- red blood cells are prepared by the local pathology lab to each EAAA operating base, involving a lot of important checks and paperwork to ensure quality and traceability.
2. Once ready to go, the red blood cells are placed into temperature-controlled and insulated ‘blood boxes’ and picked up every night from the hospital by a blood bike volunteer.
3. The blood bike volunteer then delivers them straight into a secure custom-made Medical Fridge, supplied by Weald Refrigeration at the EAAA base, to keep the blood at the correct temperature.
4. The blood boxes are then carefully loaded onto the helicopter and rapid response vehicles by the EAAA clinical crews the next morning, ready to be used on an emergency call-out.

We are very proud that Weald Refrigeration have been able to assist with this essential life-saving project.