Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance is an air ambulance service serving the counties of Hampshire and Isle of Wight in Southern England, United Kingdom. It is one of twenty-five air ambulance services in the United Kingdom.
The service began operating on 1 July 2007 and has flown over 2,600 missions. The charity's head office is located at St. Mary's Stadium in Southampton and the helicopter is based at Thruxton airfield near Andover.[1]
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The service covers the counties of Hampshire and Isle of Wight, and responds where required to traffic collisions, sporting accidents, collapses, and other incidents. It may conduct helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) during the daytime only, but may carry out non-emergency patient transfers between approved sites during both daylight and night-time hours.
The air ambulance costs around £110,000 per month to operate efficiently and successfully.[2]
The current helicopter is a twin-engined Eurocopter EC135, a type often utilised as an air ambulance. It is usually airborne within four minutes and typically flies at 140mph, making it capable of reaching most locations in Hampshire within fifteen minutes, though flights to the Isle of Wight may take longer.
The Eurocopter EC135 replaced its predecessor, a 33-year-old MBB Bo 105, in September 2010.[3] The EC135 can carry a crew of up to four, but typically carries two paramedics and one pilot. An additional doctor or family member of the patient may occupy the fourth seat.[4]
The air ambulance is crewed by one of two pilots and typically two of ten paramedics.[5]