The Great Western Air Ambulance Charity have announced that the first 6 months of 2017 have seen a record number of missions, with a total of 917 missions carried out across the 6 counties.
Of these counties, Bristol saw the busiest with a total of 329 missions, Gloucestershire 167, North Somerset 106, South Gloucestershire 102, Bath & North Somerset 59, Wiltshire 51 and 123 missions in other locations.
This figure, if replicated during the following six months of 2017, will prove to be the charity’s busiest year to date.
Acting as a flying accident and emergency department, GWAAC carry specialist equipment which normal ambulances do not.
Their critical care paramedics and doctors are trained to administer specialist treatments which cannot be given on-board normal ambulance services.
As a result and with an ever growing rate of incidents, their services are needed more than ever.
In less than four minutes from receiving a call, the team are on-board and in the air flying towards the patient, shaving vital minutes off of a patient’s waiting time when they are most in need.
Each minute counts and it’s these minutes which can mean the difference between life and death for hundreds of patients each year.
It costs £2.6million a year to stay operational, and GWAAC receive no day to day funding from the Government or National Lottery. It is through the generosity of the public which the charity is able to stay operational and keep saving lives.
This continued support from the public and community has allowed for the charity to advance and provide life-saving care to even more patients each year that it is operational.
The charity said: “It is with great thanks to the public for their support and generosity towards the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity.
“Their generosity has allowed the team to provide life-saving care to the 917 patients treated within the last six months.”