In your opinion, what's the coolest car?

I’m sure your answer would not be a blue Skoda with yellow and green stripes, but actually it is the ‘coolest’ car!

It's the new London Air Ambulance car which is fitted with an innovative lifesaving system aimed at helping patients suffering from cardiac arrest, cooling them down and reducing the chance of brain damage.

From the 1st January to 31st August 2014 the London Air Ambulance treated 1,144 patients in which 354 were involved in road traffic collisions, 307 fell from a height and 483 were treated for other reasons. This shows just how in demand London’s Air Ambulances are, which is why they have created the new ‘cool car’.

Every second is extremely critical when it comes to cardiac arrest victims. Just three minutes without blood flow to the brain can cause brain damage.

Dr Gareth Grier, Consultant, London Air Ambulance, said, “If someone's in cardiac arrest you've got three minutes before their brain dies.”

Let MotoQuoteDirect explain....

The Cool Car team will turn up to the location of the patient and alongside local paramedics they will treat the patient by resuscitation. The cooling system will then be off-loaded from the boot of the blue Skoda and used to cool the patient’s body to 32C-36C, below the normal 37C.

This is known as therapeutic hypothermia which has been proven to reduce brain damage subsequent to a cardiac arrest. A colder brain has a slower metabolism therefore it needs less oxygen to survive so this is why this new technology is perfect for patients suffering a cardiac arrest.

This procedure is performed in intensive care units, but now the Cool Car team can get to the scene it can save vital minutes or even seconds for the patient.

External cooling packs are placed upon the armpit and groin of the patient which deliver two litres of 4C saline fluid into the veins

Reports showed that 48% of patients suffering from a cardiac arrest have survived after being treated by the Cool Car and taken straight to a specialist heart hospital. Unfortunately only 9% of the 60,000 cardiac arrests that are attended by the ambulance service each year lead to survival.

The Cool Car does not only carry the cooling technology it also has an automated chest compression device, measuring chest size and resistance therefore delivering CPR without any disturbances.

Experts are still researching more that can be done in the first minutes or hours of a cardiac arrest because of the low survival rate.

The professor of emergency care at the University of the West of England, Jonathan Benger, thinks a new approach is needed. He said: "To some extent we've kind of done the same thing for a long time. It's not just about transport to the hospital, it's about excellent treatment at the scene and other options. What we need to do is empower paramedics to make good decisions and not get too bound up with the traditional idea that the hospital is the answer."

The aim for paramedics is to get to a cardiac arrest call within 8 minutes but emergency medicine consultant Dr Gareth Grier explains that, "If someone's in cardiac arrest you haven't got eight minutes - you've got three minutes before their brain dies."

Any bystanders at the scene should start CPR before the ambulance service arrives and this will boost any chances of survival.

Overall, it is difficult for the Ambulance Service to do any more than they already do with the technology they have but in the future the technology for saving lives will only develop further.

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