Posted: Thursday - October 14, 2021 1:35 pm     
On July 24th 2021, Mark Youles, 46, from Garvestone, Norfolk was enjoying a camping break in Suffolk with his wife, two children and some close friends Jill, Steve and James. Mark is a type one diabetic and had been taken ill first thing that morning with an unusually severe hypoglycaemic episode. Nicola, Mark’s wife, was unable to wake him, needing to call an ambulance to the campsite where the family and friends were staying. Mark improved after a glucose drip was administered but continued to suffer with a severe headache.

The camping group decided to have a quiet day and went for a walk on Southwold beach. Unfortunately, a short time after reaching the beach, Mark collapsed and became seriously unwell, suffering a number of seizures. A RNLI lifeguard was first on scene and came over to help Mark, quickly providing him with oxygen. A 999 call was issued and a volunteer critical care team from SARS  was mobilised to provide advanced support to the East of England Ambulance Service. The SARS team, working alongside paramedics, assessed and treated Mark, stabilising his condition before requesting an air ambulance to provide further treatment and a rapid transfer to hospital. A team from the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) soon arrived and working with SARS undertook further specialist interventions to keep Mark stable, which included ventilating him and administering an emergency anaesthetic to take control of his breathing and to help protect his brain.

Mark was airlifted to James Paget Hospital to determine the cause of his illness where he was later diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage and was administered into intensive care and later transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for further diagnostic tests. 

In total, four different emergency services were involved in his care. Their impressive teamwork meant that Mark received quick, expert care. Mark was in hospital for less than a single week (5 days in intensive care), but has made a great recovery and  begun a phased return back to work.

Last week, Nicola and Mark and their boys, Oscar and Isaac, met up with the SARS and EAAA teams at the EAAA Norwich base to thank them in person for the care and actions of those involved in saving Mark’s life. Mark commented,

“This event, kindly arranged by EAAA and SARS has enabled my children to enjoy a fun filled afternoon and has resulted in helping to turn an otherwise very scary and unpleasant experience into one that is now filled with happy, positive memories. One of my main focal points now is to raise awareness  that both EAAA and SARS are dependent upon donation-based funding. Prior to this incident I was myself naively unaware that such services weren’t directly funded by the NHS, with none us knowing if, or when any of us may ever (but hopefully never) actually need them. I would therefore simply like to take this opportunity to please convey this point to the public as well using my experience to demonstrate the very positive and real effects that can be achieved through coordinated, team efforts.”

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Four different emergency teams were involved in helping save Mark's life

Posted: Thursday - October 14, 2021 1:35 pm     
On July 24th 2021, Mark Youles, 46, from Garvestone, Norfolk was enjoying a camping break in Suffolk with his wife, two children and some close friends Jill, Steve and James. Mark is a type one diabetic and had been taken ill first thing that morning with an unusually severe hypoglycaemic episode. Nicola, Mark’s wife, was unable to wake him, needing to call an ambulance to the campsite where the family and friends were staying. Mark improved after a glucose drip was administered but continued to suffer with a severe headache.

The camping group decided to have a quiet day and went for a walk on Southwold beach. Unfortunately, a short time after reaching the beach, Mark collapsed and became seriously unwell, suffering a number of seizures. A RNLI lifeguard was first on scene and came over to help Mark, quickly providing him with oxygen. A 999 call was issued and a volunteer critical care team from SARS  was mobilised to provide advanced support to the East of England Ambulance Service. The SARS team, working alongside paramedics, assessed and treated Mark, stabilising his condition before requesting an air ambulance to provide further treatment and a rapid transfer to hospital. A team from the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) soon arrived and working with SARS undertook further specialist interventions to keep Mark stable, which included ventilating him and administering an emergency anaesthetic to take control of his breathing and to help protect his brain.

Mark was airlifted to James Paget Hospital to determine the cause of his illness where he was later diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage and was administered into intensive care and later transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for further diagnostic tests. 

In total, four different emergency services were involved in his care. Their impressive teamwork meant that Mark received quick, expert care. Mark was in hospital for less than a single week (5 days in intensive care), but has made a great recovery and  begun a phased return back to work.

Last week, Nicola and Mark and their boys, Oscar and Isaac, met up with the SARS and EAAA teams at the EAAA Norwich base to thank them in person for the care and actions of those involved in saving Mark’s life. Mark commented,

“This event, kindly arranged by EAAA and SARS has enabled my children to enjoy a fun filled afternoon and has resulted in helping to turn an otherwise very scary and unpleasant experience into one that is now filled with happy, positive memories. One of my main focal points now is to raise awareness  that both EAAA and SARS are dependent upon donation-based funding. Prior to this incident I was myself naively unaware that such services weren’t directly funded by the NHS, with none us knowing if, or when any of us may ever (but hopefully never) actually need them. I would therefore simply like to take this opportunity to please convey this point to the public as well using my experience to demonstrate the very positive and real effects that can be achieved through coordinated, team efforts.”

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