Air Ambulances

[Guest]

Some heli-med news from the UK!



For several years, i've has been supporting the appeal to raise enough funds for an air ambulance for Surrey. Well, it has finally arrived, and 8th June was the formal launch of the helicopter at Dunsfold Airfield, in deepest Surrey. Never had a seen such a large collection of dignatories, high sheriffs, mayors, mayoresses, councillors, senior emergency services officers, etc in one place! The "patron" of the appeal, Penelope Keith CBE (former High Sheriff of Surrey) launched the service just before 4pm, and the current helipcopter G-WYPA landed on site a few minutes later. This will be replaced by a new MD902 sometime in September this year.



The Surrey and Sussex schemes will share the same helicopter, which is based on the Surrey/Sussex border, and will provide a 15 minute response time to anywhere in the two counties. This is an extenstion to the existing Kent Air Ambulance Scheme, which has been running for many years.



With so many busy road in our area (including M3, M23, M25) and some fairly inaccessible rural areas, this resource will be invaluable in saving lives. From being "behind" many other counties in not having an air ambulance capability, this scheme puts them at the forefront, as the unit will be manned by "Critical Care Paramedics" - see [url="http://www.secamb.nhs.uk/latest-news/june-2007/specialist-paramedics-soon-to-take-to-the-skies/"]press release[/url]



Whilst the scheme is now fully operational, there is still much fundraising and support needed to keep it flying. If you live in the UK, or even if you don't, please pay a visit to one of the respective websites, where there are a whole host of ways in which you can help.



[url="http://www.kentairambulance.co.uk"]Kent Air Ambulance[/url]



[url="http://www.surreyairambulance.co.uk"]Surrey Air Ambulance[/url]



[url="http://www.sussexairambulance.co.uk"]Sussex Air Ambulance[/url]



Let's just hope that none of use ever need to have cause to call this service.



Regards - John