Air ambulance services in the United Kingdom provide emergency medical functions, patient transport between specialist centres, or medical repatriation. Services are provided by a mixture of organisations, operating either helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. All emergency air ambulance helicopters in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland are operated by charities, while Scotland has one charity service in addition to its two NHS-funded helicopters. Fixed-wing air ambulances, used for patient transport, may be government or privately operated. Air ambulance helicopters are complemented by Coastguard SAR helicopters.
The first air ambulance services in the UK commenced in Scotland in November 1933, with a flight from Wideford Airport, Kirkwall, Orkney. The first night time ambulance flight was undertaken in February 1939, from Wideford to the island of Sanday, using car headlights to help take off and landing. The aircraft used was a General Aircraft Monospar, registration G-ACEW, operated by Highland Airways.
The first air ambulance charity to operate a helicopter was Cornwall Air Ambulance in 1987.[1] There are now 21 air ambulance charities in the UK.[2]
Emergency air ambulancesedit
Emergency air ambulances are generally helicopter based, and used to respond to medical emergencies in support of local ambulance services. In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, all of these services are charitably funded, and either directly owned by the charity, or operated under contract with a private provider.[3] The ambulance staff and doctors crewing these flights are generally seconded from the local NHS ambulance service and NHS hospitals. In Scotland, there is the only publicly-funded air ambulance service, with the Scottish Ambulance Service operating two Airbus Helicopters H145 helicopters and two fixed wing aircraft in this role, alongside two charity-funded Eurocopter EC135 helicopters, operated by Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance.
Privately operated fixed wing air ambulance from the UK
There are also a number of public and private patient transport operations in the UK, generally using fixed wing aircraft, and which are part of a system of moving patients between points of care, or as part of a repatriation to the UK. SkyAngels Air Ambulance charity, flying out of Norwich International Airport [NWI], is a dedicated patient air transfer service with one helicopter and a number of fixed-winged aircraft under contracts to provide a service to the NHS.[12] There is a helicopter based patient transfer service, focused on paediatric cases, called the Children's Air Ambulance, which first flew in 2012.[13]
The Scottish Ambulance Service operates two fixed wing aircraft in this role, with patients flown to the mainland UK for treatment.[14] In 2015, the neonatal, paediatric and adult emergency care and retrieval operations were brought together with the Scottish Ambulance Service and utilise the aircraft and road ambulances for this purpose. They are co-located at the Scottish Ambulance Air Base at Glasgow International Airport.
On 26 July 1998, the three man crew of the Kent Air Ambulance died when the aircraft collided with power lines and crashed in a field in Burham, near Rochester Airport.[19][20] Initial investigation established no definitive cause for the crash, due to the fireball produced on impact. Controversy ensued when the pilot's employers, Police Aviation Services, denied liability. On 19 February 2004, following a civil case brought by the pilot's widow to the High Court in Manchester, it ruled that the crash was caused by mechanical failure, not as suggested flying low for fun, and ordered compensation to be paid.[21]
On 15 March 2005, a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander aircraft operated by Loganair crashed into the sea while descending toward Campbeltown Airport in western Scotland. The aircraft was operating an air ambulance flight on behalf of the Scottish Ambulance Service. The pilot and paramedic both died in the crash.[23]
^"Cornwall Air Ambulance marks 35 years of saving lives". BBC News. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
^. Air Ambulances UK. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023. Air Ambulances UK is the national organisation championing and supporting the lifesaving work of the UK's 21 air ambulance charities.
^"Amazing Facts about your Air Ambulance". Association of Air Ambulances. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
^Caygill, Greg. "Cornwall Air Ambulance expects new AW169 will save time & lives". Vertical Magazine. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
^"Cornwall Air Ambulance gives first glimpse of highly anticipated helicopter". Cornwall Air Ambulance. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
^"The sky's the limit". Devon Air Ambulance Trust. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
^. Great North Air Ambulance Service. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^Manivannan, Hari (6 October 2022). "MEET G-TVLY, OUR NEW HELICOPTER". Thames Valley Air Ambulance. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
^"Wales chooses name for new Charity Air Ambulance". Wales Air Ambulance. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
^McKune, Kara (6 June 2023). "Reaching new heights: Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity is set to unveil new helicopter at its base in Wakefield". Wakefield Express. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
^"Yorkshire Air Ambulance Unveils its new helicopter G-YAAA". Yorkshire Air Ambulance. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
^ ab"Channel Islands air ambulance changes provider". BBC News. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
^Stewart, Alexander Michael; McNay, Ryan; Thomas, Ranji; Mitchell, Andrew R. J. (1 April 2011). "Early aeromedical transfer after acute coronary syndromes". Emergency Medicine Journal. 28 (4): 325–327. doi:10.1136/emj.2009.089441. ISSN 1472-0205. PMID 20581380.
^Air Accidents Investigation Branch. "BN2A-26 Islander, G-BEDZ, 19 May 1996". GOV.UK. Department for Transport, Air Accidents Investigation Branch. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
^Helicopter crash kills three BBC News, 27 July 1998
^"AAIB Bulletin No: 2/2000" (PDF). Air Accidents Investigation Branch. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
^"Air ambulance crash pilot cleared". BBC News. 19 February 2004.
^"Piper PA-31-350, G-BMBC" (PDF). AAIB. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
^"Air crew search called off". BBC News. 15 March 2005.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Air ambulances of the United Kingdom.
Air Ambulances UK
January 01, 1970
ambulance, services, united, kingdom, provide, emergency, medical, functions, patient, transport, between, specialist, centres, medical, repatriation, services, provided, mixture, organisations, operating, either, helicopters, fixed, wing, aircraft, emergency,. Air ambulance services in the United Kingdom provide emergency medical functions patient transport between specialist centres or medical repatriation Services are provided by a mixture of organisations operating either helicopters or fixed wing aircraft All emergency air ambulance helicopters in England Wales and Northern Ireland are operated by charities while Scotland has one charity service in addition to its two NHS funded helicopters Fixed wing air ambulances used for patient transport may be government or privately operated Air ambulance helicopters are complemented by Coastguard SAR helicopters NewquayExeterEaglescottCoventryEast MidlandsOxfordDoncaster SheffieldHenstridgeNorwichCambridgeEarls ColneNorth WealdLangwathbyEaglescliffeAlmondsburyThruxtonRedhillRAF WaddingtonRAF NortholtWytonRAF CosfordStrenshamTatenhillBlackpoolBartonRAF BensonLlanelliWelshpoolCaernarfonCardiffOutmarshRAF TopcliffeNostellclass notpageimage Operational bases in England and Wales Contents 1 History 2 Emergency air ambulances 3 Patient transport operations 4 Notable accidents involving air ambulances 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory editThe first air ambulance services in the UK commenced in Scotland in November 1933 with a flight from Wideford Airport Kirkwall Orkney The first night time ambulance flight was undertaken in February 1939 from Wideford to the island of Sanday using car headlights to help take off and landing The aircraft used was a General Aircraft Monospar registration G ACEW operated by Highland Airways The first air ambulance charity to operate a helicopter was Cornwall Air Ambulance in 1987 1 There are now 21 air ambulance charities in the UK 2 Emergency air ambulances editEmergency air ambulances are generally helicopter based and used to respond to medical emergencies in support of local ambulance services In England Wales and Northern Ireland all of these services are charitably funded and either directly owned by the charity or operated under contract with a private provider 3 The ambulance staff and doctors crewing these flights are generally seconded from the local NHS ambulance service and NHS hospitals In Scotland there is the only publicly funded air ambulance service with the Scottish Ambulance Service operating two Airbus Helicopters H145 helicopters and two fixed wing aircraft in this role alongside two charity funded Eurocopter EC135 helicopters operated by Scotland s Charity Air Ambulance Organisation Aircraft Registration Photograph Cornwall Air Ambulance AW169 4 G CRWL 5 nbsp AW109SP G KRNO The Air Ambulance Service AW109SP G TAAS nbsp AW109SP G WNAS 2 x AW169 G PICU nbsp G TCAA nbsp G NICU G CPTZ Devon Air Ambulance H145 G DAAS 6 nbsp EC135 G DAAN Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance AW169 G DSAA nbsp East Anglian Air Ambulance 2 x H145 G RESU nbsp G HEMC nbsp Essex amp Herts Air Ambulance MD 902 G EHEM nbsp AW169 G HHEM Great North Air Ambulance 7 AS365 N2 G NHAC nbsp AS365 N3 G NHAD AS365 N3 G NHAE Great Western Air Ambulance EC135 G GWAC nbsp Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance H135 G HIOW nbsp Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex 3 x AW169 G KSST nbsp G KSSC nbsp G LNAC MD 902 G KSSA nbsp Lincolnshire amp Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance AW169 G LNCC London s Air Ambulance 2 x MD 902 One spare G EHMS nbsp G LNDN nbsp Magpas Air Ambulance AW169 G MGPS nbsp Midlands Air Ambulance H145 G RMAA nbsp 2 x EC135 G OMAA nbsp G HWAA nbsp North West Air Ambulance 3 x EC135 G NWAA nbsp G NWAE nbsp G NWEM nbsp Northern Ireland Air Ambulance 2 x AW109SP G HEMZ nbsp G RSCU nbsp Scotland s Charity Air Ambulance 2 x EC135 G SCAA nbsp G EMAA Scottish Air Ambulance 2 x H145 G ISAS G GSAS nbsp 2 x King Air 200C G SASC nbsp G SASD nbsp Thames Valley Air Ambulance EC135 G TVLY 8 Wales Air Ambulanceand Children s Wales Air Ambulance 4 x H145 G WENU nbsp G WOBR nbsp G WROL nbsp G LOYW 9 Wiltshire Air Ambulance Bell 429 G WLTS nbsp Yorkshire Air Ambulance 2 x H145 D3 G YORX 10 G YAAA 11 Patient transport operations edit nbsp Privately operated fixed wing air ambulance from the UK There are also a number of public and private patient transport operations in the UK generally using fixed wing aircraft and which are part of a system of moving patients between points of care or as part of a repatriation to the UK SkyAngels Air Ambulance charity flying out of Norwich International Airport NWI is a dedicated patient air transfer service with one helicopter and a number of fixed winged aircraft under contracts to provide a service to the NHS 12 There is a helicopter based patient transfer service focused on paediatric cases called the Children s Air Ambulance which first flew in 2012 13 The Scottish Ambulance Service operates two fixed wing aircraft in this role with patients flown to the mainland UK for treatment 14 In 2015 the neonatal paediatric and adult emergency care and retrieval operations were brought together with the Scottish Ambulance Service and utilise the aircraft and road ambulances for this purpose They are co located at the Scottish Ambulance Air Base at Glasgow International Airport The Isle of Man Department of Health and Social Care operates a fixed wing air ambulance for patient transport between the island and mainland hospitals 15 The Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey have a Beechcraft King Air B200 air ambulance operated by Gama Aviation since July 2020 that transports patients to England for treatment that they cannot receive on the islands 16 In Jersey this is coordinated by the Jersey Emergency Transport Service JETS 17 In addition Aurigny operate a medical evacuation service from Alderney to Guernsey 16 Notable accidents involving air ambulances editOn 19 May 1996 a Britten Norman BN 2 Islander aircraft operated by Loganair for the Scottish Ambulance Service crashed short of the runway at Lerwick Tingwall Airport in Shetland while turning to final approach at night during strong and gusting winds The pilot was killed and the physician and flight nurse were injured There was no patient on board at the time 18 On 26 July 1998 the three man crew of the Kent Air Ambulance died when the aircraft collided with power lines and crashed in a field in Burham near Rochester Airport 19 20 Initial investigation established no definitive cause for the crash due to the fireball produced on impact Controversy ensued when the pilot s employers Police Aviation Services denied liability On 19 February 2004 following a civil case brought by the pilot s widow to the High Court in Manchester it ruled that the crash was caused by mechanical failure not as suggested flying low for fun and ordered compensation to be paid 21 On 14 June 2000 four passengers and one pilot were killed when a Piper PA 31 350 Navajo Chieftain chartered for a medical transfer from the Isle of Man crashed on approach to Liverpool Airport 22 On 15 March 2005 a Britten Norman BN 2 Islander aircraft operated by Loganair crashed into the sea while descending toward Campbeltown Airport in western Scotland The aircraft was operating an air ambulance flight on behalf of the Scottish Ambulance Service The pilot and paramedic both died in the crash 23 See also editPolice aviation in the United Kingdom Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom Motorcycle ambulanceReferences edit Cornwall Air Ambulance marks 35 years of saving lives BBC News 1 April 2022 Retrieved 15 December 2022 About us Air Ambulances UK Archived from the original on 1 July 2023 Retrieved 14 July 2023 Air Ambulances UK is the national organisation championing and supporting the lifesaving work of the UK s 21 air ambulance charities Amazing Facts about your Air Ambulance Association of Air Ambulances Retrieved 26 July 2009 Caygill Greg Cornwall Air Ambulance expects new AW169 will save time amp lives Vertical Magazine Retrieved 7 May 2020 Cornwall Air Ambulance gives first glimpse of highly anticipated helicopter Cornwall Air Ambulance 5 September 2019 Retrieved 6 May 2020 The sky s the limit Devon Air Ambulance Trust Retrieved 15 December 2022 The helicopters Great North Air Ambulance Service Archived from the original on 25 May 2023 Retrieved 12 July 2023 Manivannan Hari 6 October 2022 MEET G TVLY OUR NEW HELICOPTER Thames Valley Air Ambulance Retrieved 15 December 2022 Wales chooses name for new Charity Air Ambulance Wales Air Ambulance 7 September 2023 Retrieved 10 April 2024 McKune Kara 6 June 2023 Reaching new heights Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity is set to unveil new helicopter at its base in Wakefield Wakefield Express Retrieved 2 July 2023 Yorkshire Air Ambulance Unveils its new helicopter G YAAA Yorkshire Air Ambulance 20 March 2023 Retrieved 2 July 2023 https www edp24 co uk news 23768117 skyangels air ambulance adding 350k flying car fleet The Children s Air Ambulance Express and Echo 18 December 2012 Archived from the original on 19 June 2015 Retrieved 1 September 2014 New air ambulance for NI after flight ordeal BBC News Air Ambulance Isle of Man Government Retrieved 19 December 2020 a b Channel Islands air ambulance changes provider BBC News 20 July 2020 Retrieved 6 January 2021 Stewart Alexander Michael McNay Ryan Thomas Ranji Mitchell Andrew R J 1 April 2011 Early aeromedical transfer after acute coronary syndromes Emergency Medicine Journal 28 4 325 327 doi 10 1136 emj 2009 089441 ISSN 1472 0205 PMID 20581380 Air Accidents Investigation Branch BN2A 26 Islander G BEDZ 19 May 1996 GOV UK Department for Transport Air Accidents Investigation Branch Retrieved 31 December 2015 Helicopter crash kills three BBC News 27 July 1998 AAIB Bulletin No 2 2000 PDF Air Accidents Investigation Branch Archived from the original PDF on 16 March 2009 Retrieved 5 July 2009 Air ambulance crash pilot cleared BBC News 19 February 2004 Piper PA 31 350 G BMBC PDF AAIB Retrieved 27 July 2013 Air crew search called off BBC News 15 March 2005 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Air ambulances of the United Kingdom Air Ambulances UK Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Air ambulance services in the United Kingdom amp oldid 1218205925, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
