ABOUT WILTSHIRE AIR AMBULANCE

Wiltshire’s Air Ambulance was established in April 1990 as a joint venture between the Wiltshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust and the Wiltshire Constabulary. The Air Ambulance side of the project is funded through the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust which is a registered charity.

Everyone in Wiltshire has a stake in the Wiltshire Air Ambulance. It is an essential service that serves all the people of Wiltshire whatever your age or gender. We are there for those life and death situations where the speed of the helicopter and the skill of the crew play a major part in the outcome of the patient.

WAA can be at an incident with-in 11 minutes. You may have heard the phrase ‘Golden Hour’ – this is used to describe the hour directly after an incident has taken place. It is imperative that the injured party receive medical attention within this hour to minimize the risk of life changing injuries or in some cases, death.

Almost half of all incidents the Air Ambulance attends are Road Traffic Collisions across our county roads or on the Motorways. Other situations include, cardiac arrests, horse riding accidents, work related injury, sporting injuries, farm accidents, fires and burns. No two days are ever the same.

Since our launch, some 21 years ago, the Air Ambulance has attended literally thousands of incidents, providing an essential emergency medical service throughout the County.

The helicopter used by the Charity is a McDonnell Douglas 902 Explorer. It’s a twin-engine helicopter that has no tail rotor, cutting down the noise produced in flight and is a huge advantage when we have to land on motorways or small spaces.

It is capable of a ground speed of around 140mph and can fly, in its current configuration, for an average of one-and-a-half hours. It can seat six people in the rear and two in the cockpit, although it normally only has two seats in the rear to make room for a permanent stretcher.

The aircraft is leased from a company called Police Aviation Services. The arrangement works well with PAS responsible for sending pilots to cover for sickness and providing a replacement helicopter if the Explorer needs repairs.

The Wiltshire Air Ambulance flies 365 days a year, 19 hours a day