MARS attends major incident on M5

Dr Malcolm Russell, in his role as a MARS doctor, attended a serious road traffic incident on Friday 30th May in which three people died.

Dr Russell arrived at the scene on the M5 near Tewkesbury where there were a further 15 casualties and a number of entrapments in nine other vehicles. The emergency services worked together to manage this difficult situation and the County Air Ambulance played an important role in transporting the first casualty to hospital. Dr Russell assessed and treated other survivors and accompanied the most serious to Selly Oak Hospital in a police helicopter.

The incident occurred shortly before 7.30pm when a van, carrying beer barrels, crashed through the central barrier of the motorway and collided head-on with a Mitsubishi Colt car. A woman and an 11yr old child were also seriously injured.

BBC News - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7428999.stm

Dr David Houston Returns from GO-60 Expedition

Having successfully completed Leg 2 of the Land Rover GO 60 Expedition in aid of the Red Cross, Dr David Houston returns home. "The trip was an experience that I knew would be both immensely enjoyable and hard work as we travelled overland from Moscow to Almaty in Kazaksthan in 17 days covering over 3,500 miles in Land Rover Defenders and Discovery 3 vehicles.

"My job was to ensure everyone returned safely and was treated for any illness or injury along the away. The only injury sustained was by myself when we swapped our vehicles for horses after meeting a horse-backed shepherd and I was caught out by the sharp-edged dashboard of the saddle.”

Another benefit of undertaking the expedition is that it served to validate the training and equipment that Prometheus provide.  The Land Rover employees all undertook the two-day Surviving Adventure course in Hereford that was supplemented with bespoke training for situations such as border crossings and casualty extrication from a vehicle using minimal equipment. 

“In additional to providing medical support, I made sure that the team had safe drinking water and emergency satellite communications.  The JWP water purification system proved to be a reliable and efficient way of producing clean drinking water for the group.  But the real winner was being able to quickly and easily establish internet access and a phone line in the middle of nowhere at any time of the day using the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN).  Once set up, I was suddenly everyone’s best friend!”

It was a huge challenge for the team as they were on the whole unsupported in remote locations in a harsh environment. 

“I think that this expedition demonstrates that even with a group of novice adventurers, good planning and preparation, along with the support from Prometheus Medical, a potentially hazardous expedition can go smoothly without incident or accident.  And of course with a large amount of good luck!” 

Catch up on his adventures on the Blog page and keep an eye out for more Blog entries when Malcolm Russell joins the expedition in Leg 4.

First Aid Course: Bandages, broken bones and bangs in Herefordshire

Prometheus' Surviving Adventure Course is reviewed in Adventure Travel Magazine May/June 2008.

"You like to get away from it all and trek far from the madding crowd. Make sure that if anything unplanned and unpleasant happens to you or your trek mates, you're prepared for it. Lara Dunn takes a lesson from the experts on a 'Surviving Adventure' first aid course.

"Surviving Adventure is the name of the course, and without a doubt the name of the game with Prometheus Medical's offering. From the outset, the differences from other similar courses are clear. Although the same crucial basics are dealt with, you don't usually get taught to staunch the flow of a gushing wound by ex-special forces who have helped save the lives of casualties all over the world. The tuition here is from individuals who have experienced some of the most extreme first aid situations in some of the most hostile environments on the planet.

"The climax of the weekend's tuition is the night exercise on the Saturday night. When most people are enjoying a pint or two at the pub, volunteers will be charging into the night, in search of a whole new class of scenario. Too much information would spoil the impact, but suffice it to say, all your new learnt skills will be tested to the max."

Adventure Travel - Issue 75 May/June 2008

Click for Part 1

Click for Part 2

Prometheus Moves to New Premises

Prometheus Medical Ltd has now moved to its new training facility at The Old Rectory in Herefordshire. The premises was acquired in February and since then extensive work has been done to convert the Coach House into the new administration centre and offices while work continues on the main property. The training facility will be completed within the next two months and will consist of a number of classroom blocks, accommodation in the main house for residential courses, and the ten acres of grass and woodland will be used to host outdoor training scenarios and moulages. 
The Old RectoryHope-under-DinmoreHerefordshireHR6 0PW
Tel: 01568 613942Fax: 01568 620032

MARS is visible - Hereford Times 8th May 2008

Click Here for article 

The Independent newspaper features Surviving Adventure

The Traveller section of The Independent on Saturday 26th April 2008 features a one-page article on Prometheus' Survivng Adventure Course.

"A new course teaches would-be adventurers how to cope in times of extreme medical emergency. Mark Harris enrols for a weekend of simulated carnage in Herefordshire."

"...forget calmly applying triangular bandages to dummies in the classroom, the Surviving Adventure weekend with Prometheus Medical throws you right in at the deep end."

"Surviving Adventure is based around a series of "moulages" - scenarios where instructors take the part of victims, complete with convincing props, vocal performances and buckets and buckets of artificial blood. There's little warning about when casualties might appear or what injuries to expect, although rest assured you'll get plenty of opportunities to apply dressings, take pulses and even use some more esoteric bits of medical equipment."

The Independent, Saturday 26 April 2008

Prometheus Acquires New Premises

Set in over ten acres of Herefordshire countryside, The Old Rectory is the perfect site for Prometheus’ continually expanding business. The main property is an impressive Gothic Revival residence dating back to 1859 and serving as high-quality accommodation for students attending residential courses. The Old Rectory is furnished with modern facilities providing an ideal environment for learning.

Within the grounds stands The Coach House that contains the main offices and boardrooms from where the business operates.  Two separate, modern classroom blocks offer lecture rooms and break-out areas equipped with the latest educational technologies.  Outdoors, the expansive grounds provide the ideal training environment for interactive scenario-based exercises enhancing Prometheus’ innovative training philosophy.

Commenting on this acquisition, Dr Malcolm Russell, Prometheus’ Managing Director said, “This is a significant step forward in the development of Prometheus Medical. I believe that this training facility will, in time, become recognised as a centre of excellence for pre-hospital care training with the innovative training that Prometheus conducts, provided in a state-of-the-art facility.

“Since the establishment of Prometheus nearly three years ago, we have grown substantially and now have a diverse spread of satisfied customers nationally and internationally.  The new site will allow us to continue to serve our customers’ needs, and to allow strategic growth in both capacity and capability. Despite having international commercial interests, Prometheus is nonetheless a local company, employing local people, so we are delighted to remain embedded in the local community.”

Prometheus will start running residential courses at the Old Rectory from the summer of 2008, once refurbishment has been completed.  In the meantime, training will continue to be delivered using current facilities.

The Old Rectory

Hope-under-Dinmore

Herefordshire

HR6 0PW

Prometheus welcomes new Technologies Manager

Dr Chris Crockford has been appointed Technologies Manager for Prometheus Technologies.

Chris holds a PhD in Geospatial Rendering Systems from Brunel University and recently obtained his MBA from Lancaster University Management School. He has specialised in archived and live Video and Vision systems and has worked on many contracts in the surveillance and security industries. He also holds a Masters degree in Distributed Networked Systems. Chris was a finalist in 2005 for the Science, Engineering and Technology Awards at the House of Commons. He holds a pilot's licence and has an interest in airborne surveillance technologies having presented many conference papers on the subject of collaborative surveillance and simulation.   

Chris commented on the formation of Prometheus Technologies, "I look forward to expanding Prometheus’ position and efficacy within the marketplace through the deployment of new technologies, packaged into systems that maintain and support Prometheus' excellent medical record."

Prometheus Technologies

Launch of new trading division. 

Prometheus Medical launches a new trading division to compliment its current organisation.

Prometheus Technologies has been developed to cater for the ever-expanding need for communications and technology support, building on the success of Prometheus' activities using and delivering the BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) satellite communications system to the medical world.  Prometheus Technologies aims to keep the medical and security industries abreast of and equipped with the latest technological advancements by developing them into system packages that cater for the exacting demands of established and future customers. 

Current technologies being evaluated to stand alongside Prometheus Medical capabilities include: 

• the use of RFID tags for patient tracking, health statistics monitoring and audit trailing.
• satellite and GPS tracking and tagging for both systems and personnel alike.
• the use of remote camera systems to provide telemedicine care.
• the expansion of our current BGAN services to include full-scale remote office networking, via secure satellite link and remote area monitoring, through intelligent CCTV systems that allow their imagery to be sent via satellite.
• other materials engineering technologies, such as the development of new evacuation equipment.

Prometheus Technologies will co-exist alongside Prometheus Medical to provide a unique solutions-based service to Prometheus Medical’s core activities. Prometheus Technologies will develop unique and tailored technology solutions for the medical customer, whilst drawing on the established information and experience base that lies within Prometheus Medical.