Cornwall Air Ambulance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cornwall Air Ambulance is a dedicated helicopter emergency medical service for Cornwall. The helicopter carries out approximately 1000 missions a year. Cornwall's Air Ambulance when introduced on 1st April 1987 became the first dedicated helicopter emergency medical service (EMS) to operate in the United Kingdom. The helicopter provides a relatively quick response time with access to isolated beaches, cliff-tops and moorland areas which are inaccessible by road. The Cornwall Air Ambulance is maintain by the First Air Ambulance Service Trust.

1 The Aircrew
2 The Aircraft
3 Operations
4 Cost and Financing
5 The Control Decision
6 References
7 External Links

[edit] The Aircrew

The Cornwall Air Ambulance carries a crew of three, the pilot and two paramedics. To enable seven-day flying, the service presently uses three pilots who are shared with Bond Air Services' Trinity House operation which, like the Air Ambulance, is based at RAF St. Mawgan. The aircrew are selected from existing ambulance service personnel and specially trained for their work on the helicopter. There is a pool of twenty aircrew who work on the Air Ambulance on a rotation basis. In the intervening periods between being on the helicopter the crew revert to their normal jobs on the road ambulances in the County.

[edit] The Aircraft

The helicopter is a Eurocopter EC 135, 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.

It contains 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.

A Cruising speed of 160mph.

Compact dimensions, allowing it to land in even the most confined spaces

Room to carry 2 stretcher patients.

The helicopter operates from its base at RAF St. Mawgan it can cover the entire county in less than twenty minutes and reach the Isles of Scilly in twenty eight minutes.

[edit] Operations

The helicopter is based at a hangar at RAF St. Mawgan, near Newquay, which enables servicing and maintenance to be carried out over night, a task which proved impossible at the original open-air base at Treliske Hospital. The move to St. Mawgan has also given the Air Ambulance a more centrally located base, leading to even quicker response times in many parts of the county.

[edit] Cost and Financing

Operational costs for the Cornwall Air Ambulance are currently £80,000 a month. This includes the lease of the aircraft, pilots, service engineers, spares, servicing and insurances, as well as a charge of some £350 per flying hour to cover fuel and other combustibles. The cost of the two paramedics is borne by the District Health Authority, by whom they are employed.

The Cornwall Air Ambulance is maintained by charitable donations as it 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.

All donations received are administered by the First Air Ambulance Service Trust (FAAST) a registered charity established in November 1987 for this purpose.

[edit] The Control Decision

The control centre for the Westcountry Ambulance Service is currently located at Tiverton and is manned twenty four hours a day, everyday, throughout the year. It is here that the decisions are made regarding ambulance mobilisation for the three counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, in response to 999 calls. The decision is made by the Cornwall Controller as to whether the patient should go by land ambulance, or be flown to hospital on the Air Ambulance helicopter.