WILTSHIRE Air Ambulance is celebrating a year of being able to give blood transfusions to seriously ill patients.

Among those who believe the air ambulance quick response and its ability for paramedics to be able to give him a transfusion before he reached hospital is road crash victim Mark Bryant.

Mr Bryant, 40, was trapped in his van and paramedics suspected he had suffered major blood loss and gave him two units of blood at the scene – one unit while he was trapped in his van - following the collision near Somerford Keynes before he was taken to Southmead Hospital, Bristol, by road.

Mr Bryant’s injuries included a shattered pelvis, bruised aorta and head injury and he was in an induced coma for ten days and was discharged from hospital after two and a half months.

Mr Bryant from Cirencester said: "I’m really humbled by what Wiltshire Air Ambulance did for me. The pre-hospital blood transfusions that I received saved my life.

"Blood is crucially important to help seriously injured people and I am so grateful that I was able to benefit from the blood being carried by Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

“I didn’t know about Wiltshire Air Ambulance before my accident. It is an amazing team that comes together to keep people safe across Wiltshire and beyond and it is a charity funded by public donations.”

In the first year of giving transfusions a total of 35 patients were treated with blood carried onboard the helicopter and rapid response vehicle.

Of the 35 patients given blood transfusions, 28 survived to hospital.

Richard Miller, critical care paramedic at WAA in Devizes, said: “Carrying blood is making a real difference to the care we can give to patients suffering life-threatening bleeding caused by trauma and some acute medical conditions.

"Being able to give blood transfusions at the scene of an incident gives us extra vital minutes to get patients to hospital for them to receive emergency care.”

David Philpott, WAA chief executive, said: “Carrying blood on board Wiltshire Air Ambulance has proven to be of real benefit to patients and in most cases it has been lifesaving. Working with our partners, we are proud to offer this enhancement to the service that our crews provide to seriously ill and injured patients.”

Before it began carrying blood Wiltshire Air Ambulance estimated that one to two patients a month, on average, would benefit from receiving pre-hospital blood transfusions.

But in the first 12 months of carrying blood crews gave pre-hospital blood transfusions, on average, to three patients per month in Wiltshire and surrounding counties.