Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance doctor shortlisted in Air Ambulances Awards

Dr Mike Hughes has been shortlisted for the Doctor of the Year award in the Air Ambulances UK (AAUK) Awards of Excellence, which celebrate and recognise the specialist lifesaving skills and commitment of those working within and in support of the air ambulance community across the UK.

He is different to other air ambulance doctors in that he comes from a surgical background, and the helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) is largely populated with doctors from anaesthesia and emergency medicine.

But it’s his set of skills that has brought a different perspective to the work of the crews on board the helicopter.

Mike joined LNAA in February 2022 and has been called out to 176 incidents in that time, including 36 road traffic incidents, 23 cardiac arrests and 19 incidents of self-harm.

Being a surgeon rather than an anaesthetist has meant he has carried out some medical interventions using a skill set that the other doctors do not have.

One example is when he attended a patient who had been stabbed in the neck, rather than apply direct pressure to the bleeding wound, Mike has the skills to be able to dissect down and tie off the bleeding vessels using forceps before transferring the patient to the nearest Major Trauma Centre with the forceps in situ.

This technique is a better way of stopping the bleeding and it’s not in the skillset of any other doctors at LNAA and in very few across the air ambulance community.

LNAA’s Deputy Medical Director, Doctor Adam Chesters said: "Almost immediately after being signed off in the service, Mike attended a series of difficult cases, treating some of the sickest patients attended by the service in this time.

"Using his surgical expertise, he was able to help deliver the very highest quality of care to the patient.”

Mike also recently passed the Fellowship of the College of Royal Surgeons examination in Major Trauma Surgery – the first person to ever sit the exam – all while becoming a father for the third time.

The AAUK Awards ceremony will be held at Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham on 14 November.