Rocket-powered paramedics: 'Real life Iron Man' demonstrates how Air Ambulance medics could use JETSUITS to find and treat stranded ramblers' in the Lake District
A 'real life Iron Man' has demonstrated how Air Ambulance medics could find and treat stranded ramblers in just minutes using a jet pack.
The rocket-powered suit, worn by inventor Richard Browning, could form part of the emergency response unit in the Lake District, according to ambulance chiefs.
As part of a test run, it was able to reach the peak 3,117ft peak of Helvellyn mountain in under eight minutes - it would take a helicopter three times as long.
The suit was put through its paces by Browning on Langdale Pike where he flew over difficult terrain at heights of up to 20ft searching for a party of walkers.
These walkers were playing the part of casualties needing to be rescued and within minutes he had located them - a search that could have taken over an hour on foot.
The jet suits sell for £340,000 but Browning, and his firm Gravity, says it is considering a lease arrangement with emergency services who need them.
Amazing footage shows a 'real life Iron Man' Richard Browning demonstrating how Air Ambulance medics could rescue stranded ramblers in just minutes using a jet pack
The jet suits sell for £340,000 but Browning, and his firm Gravity, says it is considering a lease arrangement with emergency services who need them
Andy Mawson, Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) director of operations saw the potential for the jet suits in the Lakes and other rugged terrain covered by GNAAS when he saw footage of Browning flying in the suit online.
GNAAS and Gravity have been in discussions for a year, culminating in the test flight two weeks ago that saw a simulated rescue at Langdale on The Band, Bowfell.
The ambulance service stressed it was only a test flight but what looked like science fiction is soon expected to become science fact.
GNAAS is carrying out a few modifications to the jet pack suit before it is anticipated to be used for real as early as next summer.
Mawson, said the biggest benefit to be gained from a jet pack is speed as they will allow first responders to reach an injured person, or locate a missing group, more quickly than other methods.
Andy Mawson, Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) director of operations saw the potential for the jet suits in the Lakes and other rugged terrain covered by GNAAS when he saw footage of Browning flying in the suit online
GNAAS and Gravity have been in discussions for a year, culminating in the test flight two weeks ago that saw a simulated rescue at Langdale on The Band, Bowfell
The suit's inventor Richard Browning, the founder of Gravity Industries, has been compared to Iron Man's fictional inventor Tony Stark in the Marvel comics
'If the idea takes off, the flying paramedic will be armed with a medical kit, with strong pain relief for walkers who may have suffered fractures, and a defibrillator for those who may have suffered a heart attack.
'In a jet pack, what might have taken up to an hour to reach the patient may only take a few minutes, and that could mean the difference between life and death.'
He added that from personal experience carrying a medical kit up the side of a mountain is difficult - not because of the distance but the gradients involved.
The suit was put through its paces by Browning on Langdale Pike where he flew over difficult terrain at heights of up to 20ft searching for a party of walkers
The jet suits sell for £340,000 but Browning, and his firm Gravity, says it is considering a lease arrangement with emergency services who need them
'But with a rapid response car and this jet suit we are going to see a sea change in the way we deliver remote medicine,' he said.
In its present form the jet pack can fly for five minutes at a time - but even with that limitation it can reduce a rescue that would take 25 minutes on foot to 90 seconds.
Mawson explained that if someone had a cardiac arrest at the top of Helvellyn they could have a defibrillator to them within eight minutes using a jet pack.
'As things stand now our aircraft would be first on the scene and that could take 20 to 25 minutes,' he added.
The ambulance service stressed it was only a test flight but what looked like science fiction is soon expected to become science fact
In its present form the jet pack can fly for five minutes at a time - but even with that limitation it can reduce a rescue that would take 25 minutes on foot to 90 seconds.
Mawson explained that if someone had a cardiac arrest at the top of Helvellyn they could have a defibrillator to them within eight minutes using a jet pack
'Nobody in the world would expect as an air ambulance we could get to someone in a jet suit in a matter of minutes and get them pain relief or in the worst cases save someone's life.'
The suit's inventor Richard Browning, the founder of Gravity Industries, has been compared to Iron Man's fictional inventor Tony Stark in the Marvel comics.
He said it is 'very safe' and you only go to a height where if you fell you would be able to recover, adding 'it would not be a terrible injury'.
The jet pack can go over 50 miles per hour if necessary and can go up to 80ft above water but above ground they don't go over about 20ft due to the 'hard landing'.
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