Dedicated emergency phone lines have been installed at hospital obstetric units across Greater Manchester so 999 call handlers can warn doctors and midwives of critically-ill women on their way in.
The potentially life-saving new system works in a similar way to how A&E departments operate in an emergency case. Emergency phone lines there are used to pre-alert the hospital that a patient is on the way in.
North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) announced today the need for a similar process to ensure maternity staff are prepared for the arrival of an ambulance to a maternity unit with a pregnancy-related emergency had been identified.
As a result, a dedicated emergency phone line has been installed in every obstetric unit across the North West. In a statement, NWAS said: "As part of the protocol, the NWAS emergency call handler will ring the dedicated number, which will be answered by a midwife or doctor, and provide the details and estimated time of arrival.
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