Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance flight paramedic Gavin Lawley with one of the new portable blood chemistry analysers.
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Paramedics can now perform hospital-level blood tests in the field, giving them vital information about critically ill patients within minutes.
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Seven portable blood chemistry analysers were purchased after Air Ambulance Victoria received $47,000 in community donations.
The handheld devices can provide laboratory-quality results from just a few drops of blood in one to three minutes.
Previously, many of the tests could only be performed after a patient reached hospital, meaning results could take hours.
Ambulance Victoria said the technology was particularly valuable when treating patients in remote and regional areas as they were transported to metropolitan hospitals.
The analysers are carried on Ambulance Victoria’s five air ambulance helicopters, the Air Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance fixed-wing plane and a road ambulance used by MICA flight paramedics.
The fleet responds to emergencies across Victoria, including the Goulburn Valley.
Ambulance Victoria Helicopter Emergency Medical Service senior team manager Andy McKenzie said the technology was a game changer for clinical care.
“Having such objective clinical information when treating time-critical patients is a huge advantage at Air Ambulance Victoria and assists us greatly in delivering life-saving clinical interventions,” Mr McKenzie said.
“When combined with our clinical assessment and on-scene ultrasound, blood chemistry analysis can help identify life-threatening conditions.”
The new equipment replaces older blood gas analysis devices and expands access to contemporary point-of-care diagnostic technology across Air Ambulance Victoria.
Ambulance Victoria paramedics are now able to perform critical blood tests in the field with new portable blood chemistry analysers.
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