Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance

Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance is an organisation which assists the Scottish Ambulance Service with emergency medical services through the provision of a helicopter air ambulance.[1] The helicopter is run by a registered charity, hoping to raise money from public and private donations in excess of £1.5 million every year.[2]

The air ambulance works alongside and complements the state-funded aircraft that also operate across Scotland.[3] Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance consists of a Eurocopter EC-135 airframe crewed by Scottish Ambulance Service paramedics. The aircraft is based at Perth Airport and tasking is from the SAS ambulance control centre at Cardonald. As of October 2015 they have been dispatched on 850 missions.[4]

Helimed 76 on a Medevac mission.

History

It commenced operations in May 2013 with a Bolkow 105 airframe and flew 40 missions in the first month.[5] After two months the service changed the hours it operated, allowing deployment later in the day. This change was to make the ambulance available at times of high demand.[6] By January 2014 the air ambulance had flown its 200th mission.[7] In May 2014, after a year of operations they had completed nearly 300 missions.[8] By February 2015 the ambulance had been despatched on almost 500 missions.[9]

In March 2015, it was announced that the charity would receive £3.3 m (allocated from Libor fines) which would allow the charity to replace their helicopter with a larger, more capable aircraft.[10]

In October 2015, they upgraded to a Eurocopter EC-135, which is faster and more powerful than the Bolkow.[4]

Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance runs with the radio call sign Helimed 76.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "SCAA - Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance - About us". Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance. Retrieved 27 Nov 2012.
  2. ↑ "Perth base for Scotland's charity air ambulance". BBC News. BBC. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "Charity Air Ambulance for Scotland" (Press release). Scottish Ambulance Service. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  4. 1 2 "New helicopter unveiled for Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance". STV News. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "'Busy' first month for Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance". BBC News. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Scotland's charity air ambulance alters operating hours to meet demands". BBC News. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Charity air ambulance hailed as helicopter flies 200th mission". STV News. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Round the world in 80 days flight takes off from Perth". BBC News. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Burdge, Richard (13 February 2015). "Blue Light display to mark Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance milestone". The Courier. D. C. Thomson & Co. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  10. ↑ "Libor fines pay for charity air ambulance". BBC News. BBC. 18 March 2015.

External links

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