AIR AMBULANCE
Cornwall's Air Ambulance, the first helicopter emergency medical service
in the United Kingdom, was brought into service on 1st April 1987
The county lends itself ideally to a service of this kind having:
A widely scattered resident population, many of whom live in remote farming
communities.
Only two major accident and emergency hospitals, located some sixty miles
apart at Truro and Plymouth.
Narrow and winding roads which often become clogged with holiday traffic
during the summer months.
Isolated beaches, cliff-tops and moorland areas which are frequently inaccessible
by road.
CONCEPT
Cornwall's Air Ambulance is designed to be:
Dedicated to ambulance duties; unlike the police or military helicopters which are sometimes called into use, the Air Ambulance is equipped, staffed by trained personnel and used for ambulance work only.
Fast in response; the Air Ambulance delivers paramedic help where it is needed very swiftly, then provides fast transport for the patient to hospital. The helicopter is airborne within two minutes of receiving a "999" call and reaches the scene of the emergency on average, in just twelve minutes. Journey time to hospital with the patient averages eleven minutes.
Flexible in deployment; regardless of road conditions, the Air Ambulance can fly at top speed in a direct line to where its services are needed. It can also operate over terrain which would prove impossible for a road vehicle.
Cost effective; despite costing some seven times more to operate in a county like Cornwall, the Air Ambulance can arguably provide the equivalent cover of double that number of conventional ambulance vehicles.
THE AIRCRAFT
The helicopter is a BOLKOW 105 DBS, an aircraft used extensively in
an Air Ambulance capacity throughout the world. It has:
Twin jet engines for safety and to enable night operations if required
to do so.
Skid landing gear to cope with all types of terrain.
Facility to carry two stretcher patients.
Unique "clam-shell" doors at the rear to allow easy loading of patients
High set main and tail rotor blades so that patients may be loaded in
safety with the engines running.
Compact dimensions and high maneuverability allowing it to operate in
even the most confined spaces.
All equipment found on any front-line ambulance plus other special items.
Four rotor blade design to ensure a smooth flight. This can prove particularly
beneficial for patients suffering head or spinal injuries, as often may
be the case in road traffic accidents.
Cruising speed of 140mph. From its base at RAF St. Mawgan the Air Ambulance
can cover the entire county in less than twenty minutes and reach the
Isles of Scilly in twenty eight minutes.
THE AIRCREW
In addition to the pilot, the Air Ambulance carries two paramedics from the ambulance service who have been trained in giving emergency treatment such as infusion, intubation and defidrilation at the scene of the emergency should the need arise. They also undergo instruction in navigation, air safety and air law as part of their training to become an air ambulance crewman. There is a pool of eighteen paramedics who work on a rotation basis on the Cornwall Air Ambulance. Between stints on the helicopter they revert to their more normal duties on the road ambulances around the county.
OPERATIONS
Cornwall's Air Ambulance is not reserved for use in specially selected types of incidents, but is operated by the Westcountry Ambulance Service as an integral part of it's resources. Both road and air crews work together to provide the best possible response in the event of an emergency.
Due to the restrictions placed on the single pilot's flying hours, availability of the helicopter was restricted to five days a week for the first two years of operations. Since mid 1989, however, the use of additional pilots to cover the two extra days has meant that the Air Ambulance now offers the public a full seven days cover.
The generous loan of a hangar at RAF St. Mawgan, near Newquay, has given the facility for essential servicing and maintenance to be carried out over night, a task which proved impossible at the original open-air base at Treliske Hospital, Truro. The move to St. Mawgan has also given the Air Ambulance a more centrally located base, leading to even quicker response times in many partg of the county.
The types of missions flown by the Air Ambulance may be categorised as:
1) PRIMARY; where the helicopter lands directly at the scene of the emergency. The patient is then treated and their condition stabilised by the aircrew before they are transported to hospital on board the aircraft. The Air Ambulance is often the only vehicle used to attend on a primary mission.
2) SECONDARY
a) A patient who has initially been attended to by the crew of a road
vehicle is subsequently transferred to the Air Ambulance at a convenient
rendezvous point and taken to hospital by the helicopter. This not only
provides much faster transport for the patient, but has the added advantage
of leaving the road ambulance in the area should another emergency arise
shortly afterwards.
b) Urgent inter-hospital transfers; As no hospital has all the equipment or skills readily available to treat every kind of injury or illness, the Air Ambulance is sometimes used to transfer patients to a specialist unit at another location as quickly and comfortably as possible.
About 75% of the Air Ambulance's work is on PRIMARY missions.
COSTS AND FINANCING
Operational costs for the Cornwall Air Ambulance currently average over £65,000 each month, all of which has to been paid by means of charitable donations as the helicopter receives no form of "official" funding. The resident population and visitors to Cornwall have now been financing the Air Ambulance solely on the strength of their own efforts for almost a decade by:
- Regular donations in the form of bankers order or deeds of covenant.
- Individual fund-raising events such as coffee mornings or jumble sales.
- Purchase of weekly Air Ambulance lottery tickets.
- Coins, in charity collecting boxes.
- Legacies.
- Donations given in memory of a lost loved one.
- Sponsored fund-raising events.
SUMMARY
From an experimental beginning in 1987, Cornwall's Air Ambulance has since prove itself to be an invaluable addition to the counties' emergency resources. Having completed over 7,500 missions to all parts of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the now familiar red helicopter has come to represent a symbol, particularly to those living in the more remote areas, that, in times of traumatic accident or sudden serious illness, expert help may be only a matter of minutes away, rather than facing the possibility of a road journey taking up to two hours to the nearest hospital.
The people of Cornwall have taken the Air Ambulance to their hearts and demonstrated in the most tangible way possible their overwhelming belief in it's benefits to them by financing the service at a cost in excess of £1/2 million a year from their own pockets. Taking into account the relatively small head of population and prevalent low average wages in the county, this has been, by any comparison a remarkable achievement. They are justifiable proud of what they now call "OUR" Air Ambulance and, furthermore, it was the FIRST Air Ambulance, showing that, for once, Cornwall, so often looked upon as the poor relation from "out in the sticks", was showing the rest of the country a lead which others are now following.
The speed and flexibility of the helicopter has provided an extra dimension to the ambulance service's resources in the county. Had it not been available when needed it is certain that a number of the 7,500 odd patients it has transported to hospital would not have survived. Almost as important, it has greatly enhanced the quality of life and long-term recovery prospects of a great many others.
The fight for the retention of this vital service has been long, hard and sometimes desperate, but if it has meant the saving of just one life otherwise lost, it will have been worthwhile, for who can put a price on the value of a life saved?
And what of the future? As far as funding is concerned, the Air Ambulance has, for the past ten years enjoyed phenomenal and continuing support from the local community. It's long-term prospects are, however, no more secure today than they were then, for there is no possibility that it will receive any form of "official" funding in the foreseeable future.
The public, then, are still faced with the on-going task of finding the means to sustain their life-saving helicopter for some considerable time ahead. In today's uncertain economic climate and with the advent of the National Lottery, offering the distraction of instant riches to lucky winners, how much longer will they be able to keep it going?
Only time will provide the answer to that question, but what does remain certain is that as long as they do, the Cornwall Air Ambulance will continue to fly to their aid wherever and whenever it is needed.
If you would like to know more about the Cornwall Air Ambulance or lend your support by arranging a fund-raising event etc, please contact the Head Office on 01840 213574
First Air Ambulance Service Trust (F.A.A.S.T )
Registered Address:
First Air Ambulance Service Trust
Victoria Square
Roche
St. Austell
Cornwall PL26 8LQ
Tel 01726 890444
Fax 01726 890555
Email: cornwallair@btconnect.com
Website: www.helimed181.co.uk
