CHARITY SPOTLIGHT: Midlands Air Ambulance

Dom Humby studies…

Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is likely one of the busiest air ambulance providers within the UK. Since 1991, they’ve supplied pre-hospital emergency care to critically injured and unwell sufferers throughout Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, the West Midlands and Worcestershire. 

Each second counts in an emergency and on common the crew arrive on scene inside 10 minutes, whether or not by air ambulance or in one in all their essential care automobiles. On common 12 sufferers are handled every day in determined want of their superior medical talent set with enhanced medicines and gear on the incident scene.

Having been operational for over 33 years, Midlands Air Ambulance has responded to a staggering 77,000 missions, offering lifesaving essential care interventions and transporting sufferers to the best-suited hospital for his or her wants. This as such has grow to be a significant integration into the emergency providers infrastructure throughout the area, an unimaginable milestone to say the least that has been reached with assist from the communities they serve and robust ties to the bike neighborhood. 

Their annual Bike4LifeFest Trip Out & Pageant helps increase consciousness and a devoted give attention to biker security is promoted, contemplating they attend a motorcyclist as typically as each 4 days on common.

Utilizing the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS), the principle aim is the continued provision of excellent pre-hospital emergency care and lifesaving intervention, serving to save extra lives and persevering with the  enchancment of sufferers’ possibilities of survival, together with good restoration, by offering clear, scientific and complete operations of a helicopter-led emergency service sculpted to satisfy the altering calls for of affected person care. 

That being stated, I believe all of us who ever considered being in ‘Airwolf’ realise that having a helicopter isn’t low cost. For Midlands Air Ambulance, it prices an unimaginable £13-£14 million every year to take care of the three plane, a fleet of essential care street automobiles, and offering a lifesaving service. In fact, every mission has a value implication and on common that may be £2950 for essential air missions and £288 for essential care missions with no authorities assist in place for these each day missions. This unimaginable service can solely proceed to attain its objectives by ongoing assist and the generosity of the general public, their supporters, native companies and company companions.

During the last 33 years, Midlands Air Ambulance has realised a number of fairly unimaginable operational and scientific achievements. Most not too long ago, all three airbases had been rated ‘Excellent’ by the Care High quality Fee (CQC), demonstrating the onerous work and dedication of each single particular person throughout the entire of the organisation. Because the starting of 2024, the pre-hospital lifesaving service has been trailing a brand new clinically operational mannequin that now encompasses crews responding on a 24/7 foundation, with additional plans on the way to enhance and develop as a significant and integral a part of emergency providers. 

Continued funding in crew coaching and medical expertise offers essential care paramedics and docs the flexibility to deal with any conditions that come up. This, is flip, can be aided by discovering new methods to share their data base and experience throughout six counties, offering the general public with lifesaving expertise by way of their common first-aid programs First Biker on Scene. This course is particularly designed to present any biker the correct expertise and confidence to handle a casualty on the level of harm earlier than the arrival of the emergency providers. 

With out the continued assist from the general public, this important service couldn’t proceed. Being solely reliant on volunteers, neighborhood teams, native companies and donations preserve the essential care providers supplied by Midlands Air Ambulance each within the air and on the street. 

Midlands Air Ambulance additionally run a number of fundraising occasions every year, not least the aforementioned Bike4Life Trip Out & Pageant which sees 3500 bikes journey 26 miles from Meole Brace in Shrewsbury to the pageant web site at Weston Park in Staffordshire. This yr’s occasion raised a staggering £132,700. Which means 41 air ambulances and a further 46 essential care automotive missions have been made attainable, due to the assist from the occasion’s attendees.

Folks can get entangled in some ways, from becoming a member of fundraising occasions just like the Bike4Life Trip Out & Pageant, to turning into common donors or company sponsors. Each motion helps to proceed Midlands Air Ambulance’s lifesaving missions.

Folks can discover out extra details about Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, and methods to assist them, at midlandsairambulance.com To search out out extra in regards to the Bike4Life occasion, go to bike4lifefest.com or search ‘Bike4LifeFest’ on social media.