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Wiltshire Air Ambulance has reported that 2022 was another busy year for its aircrew, who completed 1,061 missions across Wiltshire, Bath and surrounding areas.
The charity provides vital, life-saving emergency support across Wiltshire 365 days a year.
Last year, a total of 263 patients were transferred to local hospitals (up from 237 in 2021). Most injured patients were sent to the Royal United Hospital, Bath (84), Southmead Hospital, Bristol (63) and Great Western Hospital, Swindon (44).
The largest number of call outs were to cardiac emergencies – 351, which equates to a third of all missions and a rise from 306 in 2021. There were 174 road traffic collisions attended, plus 74 medical collapses, 51 sporting incidents and 44 assaults.
A total of 139 incidents involved children, while 31% of all missions (329) took place at night.
The largest number of incidents Wiltshire Air Ambulance responded to were in the Swindon area – 173. The charity attended 83 missions in Bath and 69 in the city of Salisbury.
The Wiltshire Air Ambulance aircrew were also tasked to incidents outside of its operational patch, including in counties such as Berkshire, Bristol, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, and Somerset.
Novum Law Director and specialist personal injury solicitor Anna Cole from our Swindon team is a trustee of Wiltshire Air Ambulance and has been involved with the charity for several years.
She says:
“I am proud to be a trustee of such a crucial emergency service that saves lives. The air ambulance crew is 100% dedicated to helping people who need urgent medical attention. On average, its pilots, critical care paramedics and doctors respond to emergencies three times a day, every day of the year.
“But providing this service is not cheap and Wiltshire Air Ambulance receives no regular direct funding from the Government or National Lottery grants. In fact, each year the charity needs to raise £4 million to be able to continue flying and saving lives.”
The charity is focused on raising funds to survive and Barbara Gray, its director of income generation and communications says:
“We know it is a really difficult time for the country right now, with fuel and energy bills rising, along with inflation, contributing to this current cost of living crisis.
“However, we remain ever grateful to our amazing donors and local businesses who continue to support us and help raise the £4 million it costs each year to keep our air ambulance flying and saving lives.”
To find out more about Wiltshire Air Ambulance visit: www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk.
