THE lives of dozens of people in the West Midlands have been saved thanks to better treatment after they suffered traumatic injuries.

New figures from an independent audit of trauma care showed that more people had survived major traumas since changes had been made to services in April 2012.

The audit, produced by the Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN), showed that patients in England have a 30 per cent improved chance of surviving severe injuries after the introduction of Regional Trauma Networks.

Of the 600 more people still alive today in England since the changes were introduced, between 50 and 100 were in the West Midlands, a region that have been dubbed as one of the most innovative areas in the country in patient care.

Trauma lead for West Midlands Ambulance Service, Shane Roberts, said: “The reality is that many more people are surviving serious injuries. This starts with the ambulance staff at scene identifying the trauma injuries immediately; stabilising the patient’s condition; and then transporting them straight to one of the major trauma centres. There, the specialist trauma teams can start treating their life-threatening problems more quickly.

“Every day our staff make use of the trauma network to ensure patients get the best possible treatment. What is so satisfying is that we now see patients coming back to meet our staff who only five years ago would simply not have survived.”

The West Midlands has one of the most advanced networks in the country, which includes provision of the MERIT team which is made up of a dedicated trauma doctor and critical care paramedic, who are available 24 hours a day either flying on the Midlands Air Ambulance based at Cosford or on a dedicated specialist road vehicle during the hours of darkness.