The Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance has responded to its 20,000th mission since its first flight in 2007, with the charity containing to save lives across both counties and beyond.
The life-saving charity responded to mission number 20,000 on Wednesday (16th October) when the paramedic and doctor team responded to an incident in Winchester late at night. The critical care team attended the incident via one of its emergency response vehicles and provided treatment to a patient who was taken to hospital by road ambulance.
This comes as the specialist doctors, dispatchers, pilots and paramedics have responded to almost 2,000 call-outs this year so far – already surpassing the total for the entirety of 2023 – an increase of almost 40% on the same period as last year.
July has had the most call-outs for the charity (249) so far this year – the most the service has had in a single month on record.
The majority of incidents involved cardiac arrest, road traffic collisions and medical emergencies, such as seizures. Other cases included falls from height, assaults and sporting incidents. Earlier this week Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance landed in Lake, in response to a medical emergency at a local residential address.
1 of those 20,000 deployments was to Kevan Taylor from Winford who has been flown to hospital by the air ambulance service on 3 separate occasions, due to a condition that causes a build-up of fluid around the brain (hydrocephalus), which can cause brain damage.
He’s said:
“A traditional ambulance just wouldn’t have got me to hospital in time. It makes living on the Isle of Wight very tricky.
“The crew were all so friendly, and that is the memory that sticks with me the most. Without the air ambulance, my children would be without a dad, my partner would be without a partner and my mum would be without a son. For this, I will always be grateful to the team.”
The charity’s CEO Richard Corbett says:
“We’re currently charting at around a 40% increase on the same period as last year. That’s an enormous increase in pressure: pressure on our crews to perform more highly skilled, life-saving procedures in extremely testing settings. And it is also pressure on our charity team and our supporters to ensure we can raise enough money to keep the aircraft flying, meet the increased need for drugs, equipment and engineering support.
“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who continues to back our cause and give our patients the best chance of survival and recovery.”
The charity recently launched Operation Airbase, a £3.6million appeal to relocate its airbase to Southampton, near Southampton Airport, to dramatically reduce response times. Visit www.hiowaa.org/appeal for more information.
The island would be lost without this wonderful service.
It has saved so many lives, well done to all involved.