Dr Russell and Dr Milne want more GPs to join MEDs

Dr Les Milne of Llanfair Caereinion and Dr Ian Russell of Welshpool began Montgomeryshire Emergency Doctors Service (MEDs) in 1999 to provide an emergency care service at the scene of road traffic accidents and other incidents in Montgomeryshire.

And other GPs will be encouraged to form similar schemes when the two doctors talk about their life-saving work at a conference for rural doctors next month.

Covering a huge area from the Shropshire border, across Montgomeryshire to south Gwynedd, Dr Milne and Dr Russell get called out more than 100 times a year to support the ambulance service in emergency situations.

We hope that more local doctors might consider joining MEDs so that we will have better coverage in the southern part of Montgomeryshire Dr Les Milne

And according to Dr Milne, he is the first to turn up to at least half these incidents because ambulances are often busy dealing with other call-outs.

"We are called when there is a suspicion that more than two cars are involved in a road traffic accident or where a patient is in cardiac arrest," said Dr Milne.

Teamwork

"We attend more traffic accidents on the A458 between Shrewsbury and Mallwyd because a high percentage of them involve major injuries," said Dr Milne.

"I am often the first person at the scene of these accidents on the A458 because it is only a minute away from my house," he added.

The doctors carry special pagers to be alerted by the ambulance service control room and arrive at the incident in specially equipped cars.

"The ambulance staff are trained in resuscitation techniques but seriously injured patients benefit tremendously from us and ambulance personnel working as a team," added Dr Milne.

The two doctors work closely with the ambulance service

The three-day Rural Doctors' Conference, at Gregynog, near Newtown, starts on 1 October and has been organised by the Montgomeryshire Medical Society and supported by the Institute of Rural Health.

Dr Milne and Dr Russell hope that other GPs will want to join MEDs or set up similar schemes after their presentation.

"Hopefully it will further their interest in emergency care and improve their skills," said Dr Milne.

"We hope that more local doctors might consider joining MEDs so that we will have better coverage in the southern part of Montgomeryshire."

The conference will attract GPs from all over the UK and will also deal with the new GP contract, female health and aspects of ageing.