What does innovation look like at GWAAC?
August 26, 2026
In pre-hospital care, there is rarely one right answer. Every patient, every incident and every environment brings something different to the teams who care for them. That's why learning from others, and sharing what we know, is such an important part of improving the care we provide.
At Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC), our clinicians work alongside colleagues from across the emergency care system, as well as with organisations further afield. These experiences give our teams opportunities to learn from different approaches, share their own expertise and bring new ideas back into their everyday practice.
Looking beyond our own experience
Some of the most valuable learning can come from stepping outside our usual environment. Our clinicians have travelled overseas to share their expertise with military and police colleagues in Ukraine, providing nuanced training in pre-hospital emergency care. They have also travelled to Norway to exchange knowledge with colleagues who work in a different pre-hospital system in search and rescue
These experiences aren't simply about teaching or being taught. They provide an opportunity to see how other teams approach challenges, what works in different settings and what they might learn from one another. Learnings and insights gained by our clinicians are brought back and shared with the wider GWAAC crew.
Closer to home, our clinicians regularly share knowledge with colleagues across the emergency services through training and education. From multi-agency training with ambulance and fire crews to Clinical Outreach days to enhance paramedics’ knowledge, these opportunities help strengthen understanding between teams who work together when patients need us most.
GWAAC’s Critical Care Doctor Jules Blackham, says: “This type of training (the multi-agency training) allows us to understand the different skills that the teams bring to the scene, and how these can be used to maximum effect… Communication between the services is improved and barriers are broken down.”
Sharing expertise can change how care is delivered
Knowledge-sharing can also lead to practical changes in the way care is delivered.
Our clinical teams have worked with colleagues at South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) to develop resources such as the Aide Memoire, a two-sided pocket card, helping ambulance crews recognise when a patient might benefit from GWAAC's specialist skills and equipment.
Craig Wilkins, Specialist Lead, Enhanced and Critical Care at SWASfT says, “Working alongside GWAAC, this document will help support our ambulance crews to allocate the most appropriate resource to our sickest patients in a timely manner to help save lives.” It's a good example of what can happen when people with different roles and perspectives come together around a shared challenge
The same principle applies to research, education and professional development. Our clinicians contribute to podcasts, teaching, research and wider professional conversations, sharing experiences that can help others learn and encouraging discussion about how pre-hospital care can continue to evolve. Learn more here.
Sparking new ideas
One of the most valuable things about sharing knowledge is that new ideas can come out of conversations that might not otherwise have taken place. It might be a new piece of equipment, a fresh approach to a familiar problem, or an idea from another service that could work in a different environment. It could simply be a conversation with someone who has experienced the same challenge from a completely different perspective.
Sometimes, one small idea can lead to something much bigger.
That's why we believe opportunities to bring clinicians together matter. They create space not only to listen and learn, but to question, discuss and make connections that can continue long after the event has finished.
Bringing clinicians together
And this is the thinking behind this year's GWAAC Clinical Symposium.
With Innovation as the theme, the day will bring together clinicians from across the South West and beyond to hear from expert speakers, share experiences and explore new ideas in pre-hospital care.
We know that innovation doesn't happen in isolation; it grows when people share what they know, challenge each other's thinking and take good ideas somewhere new.
If you’re a healthcare professional interested in PHEM, we hope to see you there.
