Great Western Air Ambulance Charity celebrates Air Ambulance Week

Air Ambulance Week 2024 takes off across the UK from 9 – 15 September, to raise awareness of the lifesaving work of air ambulance charities across the UK. 

Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) is celebrating by highlighting the stories of those whose lives have been impacted by its dedicated Critical Care Team, who bring the hospital to the patient at the scene.

During the national awareness week, organised by Air Ambulances UK, GWAAC will be joining other air ambulance charities around the United Kingdom delivering the message: “Today’s Supporter, Tomorrow’s Lifesaver.”

Anyone, anywhere in the UK can become a patient at any time. The message, “Today’s Supporter, Tomorrow’s Lifesaver,” reminds us that by becoming a supporter today, you can help save lives tomorrow, lives like Stuart’s.

Stuart was helping out on his grandfather’s farm when he fell from height, landing on a trailer beneath him. The fall left Stuart in need of emergency lifesaving treatment. Stuart had broken his femur and was bleeding out from his femoral artery. GWAAC’s specialist team stabilised his condition at the scene before they could move him, administering blood-clotting drugs, antibiotics and advanced pain relief. Stuart says, “I’m pretty sure that the fast-acting air ambulance team saved my life that day… I feel so thankful for the support I received on the ground from the air ambulance as well as the surgery and aftercare the NHS provided me.”

The campaign also highlights how air ambulance charities such as GWAAC need your support to continue to deliver advanced pre-hospital care to people with a sudden life-threatening injury or illness, helping to save lives and improve patient outcomes. By supporting GWAAC you will truly be making a difference to someone’s life.

Each act of support today becomes hope for tomorrow, increasing the chances of survival and improving patient outcomes.

Simmy Akhtar Air Ambulances UK’s CEO said: “Today’s Supporter, Tomorrow’s Lifesaver is an important reminder of the impact each of us can make. Every day, air ambulance charities are collectively dispatched to over 126 lifesaving missions and each mission is funded almost entirely by the generosity of our local communities. As we celebrate Air Ambulance Week 2024, we recognise the invaluable impact of the dedicated teams who bring prehospital emergency care to patients in their most vulnerable moments. Through your generosity, air ambulance charities continue to save lives and improve patient outcomes across the UK.”

Air ambulance crews bring the skills and expertise of a hospital to the scene of an emergency, performing complex procedures using advanced equipment and drugs that improve survival rates.

On average GWAAC’s Critical Care Team is called to six patients a day across its region of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, and parts of Wiltshire. The charity forms an important part of the emergency services provision making a lifesaving difference to local people and their families.

Each mission costs on average around £2,200 and is funded almost entirely by the generosity of local communities.

GWAAC is calling on people all over its region to support the charity during Air Ambulance Week 2024, to ensure it can continue to save more people like Stuart.

Find out more about how you can help support your air ambulance charity by visiting GWAAC’s website: gwaac.com

Air Ambulance Week Fact Finder

There are 21 individual air ambulance charities in the UK, which provide pre-hospital care support to the NHS and form an important part of the UK’s frontline emergency services.

There are 37 air ambulance helicopters operated across the 21 individual air ambulance charities.

Air ambulance charities collectively make an average of over 126 lifesaving missions every day – that’s over 45,000 a year.

The average cost of an air ambulance mission is around £4,110* and each one is funded almost entirely by donations. *cost varies depending on geography, patient need, clinical and operational models of the local air ambulance charity.

Some air ambulance charities like GWAAC also operate a small fleet of critical care cars. GWAAC’s three cars contain the same equipment and specialist crew (minus the pilot) as the helicopter. The different vehicles give the crews flexible options for reaching patients in urgent need, but the level of care at the scene remains the same.

Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk