GWAAC Clinical Engagement
Sharing knowledge
Great Western Air Ambulance Charity produces a number of programmes designed to share knowledge and skills with clinical professionals.
Clinical Governance
Our crew have monthly clinical governance days designed to educate our crew and improve our service. We have now begun to open these days to clinical professionals looking to find out more about our work.
Clinical Outreach
We have developed some enhanced training for paramedics and nurses responding to 999 calls on behalf of SWAST including private and voluntary providers. An opportunity to practice and simulate clinical skills and scenarios.
GWAAC Symposium - Friday 16 October
The Great Western Air Ambulance Charity Symposium returns on Friday 16 October, at Ashton Gate Stadium. Join us for an exciting range of speakers covering a variety of PHEM related topics under the theme of Innovation.
Our next 2026 Clinical Outreach days:
Monday 12 or Tuesday 13 October - Peri-Arrest Series, GWAAC Airbase, BS32 4FB - £25 Registration Fee
Join GWAAC’s Critical Care Team for a day of clinical teaching that combines theory, simulations and workshops to support your pre-hospital practice. Our Outreach Series provides you with an opportunity to manage critically ill and injured patients across a variety of adult and paediatric scenarios, alongside our Critical Care Team.
GWAAC Evening Masterclass - Human Factors in Emergency Care
With Dr Andy Holdstock, GWAAC Critical Care Doctor and Emergency Medicine Consultant at Airedale Emergency Department
Monday 5 October, 19:45, GWAAC airbase or online
Emergency care is delivered in complex, unpredictable environments where decision-making, communication and teamwork can have a significant impact on patient outcomes. This session will explore the human factors that influence how we perform under pressure, including how cognitive biases, workload, fatigue, stress, communication and team dynamics can affect clinical performance.
Andy will draw on his experience in emergency and prehospital care to provide practical, relevant insights into how we can recognise and manage human factors in our everyday clinical practice.
Clinical Governance Days:
Learning. Reviewing. Improving.
Each month we review cases, audit practice and explore new evidence to deliver cutting-edge care. External clinicians can sometimes attend — sign up to be first to hear upcoming dates.
Clinical Governance
Whilst the primary objective of these days is education of our crew, the majority of these days are open to a limited number of external healthcare professionals keen to find out more about the work we do. These range from paramedics who have attended jobs alongside us and hospital doctors who wish to learn more about the care delivered before hospital, to those who are keen to join the team or work for other air ambulances and wish to share learning.
Clinical Outreach
The days are run by experienced Specialist Paramedics in Critical Care and are open to all frontline ambulance staff responding within the South Western Ambulance Service area of operation.
Masterclasses, Symposiums
For example, in 2023 ACP-CC Vicki Brown presented a keynote speech at the Bristol Distinguished Address Series with UWE Events.
In 2024 we held our fifth Clinical Symposium a conference with guest speakers from the world of PHEM.
In 2024 Critical Care Doctor Glyn ran 12-Lead ECG masterclasses.
In 2025, Critical Care Doctor Paddy hosted an Evening Masterclass titled "Drowning - Myths, Management and Heroics"
These programmes will be available to all clinical professionals unless otherwise stated.
See the resources we have produced for paramedics and other healthcare professionals.
Help train the next generation of lifesavers
We are looking for basic life support trained professionals who are able to volunteer their time to deliver Great Western Hearts training sessions to students in secondary schools across our region. Our hour-long sessions involve a group demonstration and practical exercises based on the DRS-ABC method, including how to use an AED. Each session is tailored to the length of a school lesson and can be up to an hour long.
In 2024, our Heartstarters volunteers visited nearly a quarter of the schools in our region, training over 6,000 school children with these potentially lifesaving skills. Combine this with the training they did with our corporate and community groups as well, this brings the total of people trained to well around 25,000 since the programme's inception in 2016. But we don't want to stop there.
