ROADSIDE blood transfusions will be available for the first time in Cumbria thanks to a scheme now being run by the the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).

From January it will become one of only a few air ambulance organisations in the world to carry blood on board helicopters, enabling it to perform the life-saving procedure.

Doctor with the organisation, Rachel Hawes, witnessed the technique being used by military helicopter crews while working in the Territorial Army.

"One of the first things medics have to do is stop any bleeding to save a patient’s life and many seriously injured patients risk bleeding to death," she said.

"This will transform pre-hospital care and is going to be of huge benefit to the region.”

The scheme means air ambulance staff will be able to deliver fresh blood supplies to the scene of life-threatening accidents.

This will be the first time in the North of England that blood transfusions will be available outside of a hospital.

The new service is the result of a collaboration between GNAAS, Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle and the volunteer blood transportation charity, Blood Bikes.

When the service is launched, Blood Bikes will take blood every 24 hours from the hospital to the GNAAS base at Langwathby, near Penrith, later taking unused blood back to hospital where it can be put to good use.