Story originally posted on 10 February 2010.

A ground-breaking scheme for improving the treatment of burns patients by fire crews has won a national award from the National Patient Safety Association.

The scheme saw University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) invite firefighters from West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) to see first hand how burns patients are treated on arrival.

The importance of keeping burns as clean as possible was impressed on the firefighters during their visits. As a result, crews saw how simple changes to their procedures could have a dramatic impact on patient care.

The most important but simple development is for firefighters to improve the way they use clean ground sheets, keeping patients off the ground, to better protect their burns. This means patients’ injuries are cleaner and easier to treat at hospital.

Burns sister Liz Shale said the fire fighters who came in to see how the hospital treated patients were fascinated by what they saw: “They were really interested to see what we do. They were able to shadow a nurse and got to see every aspect of how we treat burns patients.”

As well as seeing specific burns treatments, the firefighters shadowed nurses in critical care unit, A&E and trauma.

Peter Luckin, Lead First Aid Trauma Management Instructor for WMFS, said the whole programme was hugely valuable for the firefighters: “Once those doors close on the ambulance it’s difficult for us to know what happens to that patient.

“Now we know more about treating burns because we have seen the care further down the road and can share our experiences with colleagues across the Brigade.

“It’s brought huge benefit to burns patients for a lot of reasons. They get better care and firefighters now have a better idea of what they’ve been through.”

Representatives from both organisations travelled to London for the awards night, which featured 75 short-listed entries in 15 categories.

UHB Matron for Burns & Trauma Margaret Gately said it was a huge shock when the group realised it had won the Education and Training in Patient Safety category: “We were just silent. There were five other entrants shortlisted in this category and we thought the competition was really stiff. We were not expecting to win!”

Darren North, Lead First Aid Trauma Management Instructor for WMFS, said the co-operation between the two organisations was the key to success: “The Trust has been an excellent supporter of this whole project, as have West Midlands Fire Service.

“We got a lot of interest at the awards from organisations all over the UK who want to replicate what we’ve done here.”

This change in practice in the West Midlands has already influenced new national guidelines for trauma care being developed by the Chief Fire Officer's Association. Selly Oak Hospital’s trauma teams, led by Professor Keith Porter, have also supported an annual West Midlands Fire Service trauma conference, which now attracts international delegates.