What Role Do MERTs Play in Offshore Wind?
Who is Involved?
A good MERT will consist of medics who have extensive experience operating on remote, offshore sites. Medical emergencies and accidents can happen at any time and it is necessary that before undertaking any offshore project that a comprehensive MERT is engaged. MERTs will not only provide quick emergency response services in hard to access places, but they should also help to train staff and improve general standards of HSEQ onsite.
Many offshore medics have extensive experience of frontline emergency care. They operate under a strict Clinical Governance scheme and are regularly audited and trained. With Round 3 windfarms being built in increasingly distant locations offshore, project developers are considering the increase risk to personnel that is involved and an important element of the risk management strategy is the provision of MERTs.
What is the Golden Hour?
Offshore incident logs from companies operating in remote locations aren’t always made up of trauma cases. Emergency events in the past highlight the need to account for medical cases such as heart attacks and strokes. Trauma or medical incidents that would be seemingly routine onshore can soon become medical emergencies. This is due to the difficult task emergency service providers have in accessing and evacuating the injured party quickly.
The Golden Hour refers to the critical period in which medical care should be carried out in order to save lives and maximise recovery. It is important, therefore, that medical care is on standby and accessible in a very short period of time, regardless of how remote the site is.
Who Provides MERTs?
All operations in the UK benefit from the current medical and rescue provision provided by the Search and Rescue, RNLI and NHS, however this is often not enough to rely on for saving lives and treating trauma in remote locations. It is necessary, therefore, to engage a private specialist that can offer the required support needed to carry out a comprehensive care from point of injury until handing over to the national service providers. At this point, the MERT is responsible for casualty stabilisation and evacuation carried out by medics with Industrial Rope Access training. The MERT will then ensure the safe transfer of the casualty, alongside monitoring vials and coordinating the timely extraction of the injured party. Critical and often life saving advice is also provided to the MERT by a topside medical support service.
Why Topside Medical Support?
SSI Energy operates a 24-hour medical support service which is delivered through a team of consultant emergency physicians with extensive experience in remote emergency medical care. This allows expert medical advice to be provided directly to the MERT.
All consultants providing topside support are GMC registered emergency medicine consultants and have current expertise in providing telemedicine advice for MERTs, as well as being directly involved in the treatment and aeromedical transport of critically ill and injured patients.
In addition SSI Energy offer medical needs assessments, medical equipment & medications and a specialist occupational health service, providing highly skilled medics and technicians to the energy industry. Whether it is offshore or onshore, SSI Energy are able to bring their Management Team’s extensive medical experience to any project in offshore wind, oil and gas and any other remote location.
For more information on how SSI Energy can make your offshore project safer, contact their Management Team here.
