Sponsor our adventure and help the North West Air Ambulance
The North West Air Ambulance (NWAA) is a unique regional medical air emergency service covering Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside and Cumbria.
Established in 1999, the NWAA is a registered charity receiving no mainstream funding, yet it offers a vital service seven days a week, 365 days a year across 5,500 square miles serving a residential population of seven million.
Costing just over £1.3 million a year to maintain, the NWAA covers all major motorway incidents, and areas that have poor and restricted road access.
On average the NWAA is called out four times a day, rising up to ten in the summer.
Whilst the incidents vary greatly, there are two over-riding factors for the NWAA’s presence – either because time is extremely crucial or where road access is limited.
The NWAA has a maximum flying time of ten minutes to the nearest appropriate hospital anywhere in the region and in the event of serious incidents it is this speed with which medical care can be delivered that is crucial.
It is recognised that by receiving treatment at the scene and arriving at the hospital with the “Golden Hour”, the patient’s chances of survival and speed of recovery are dramatically improved.
The NWAA ensures a very high standard of care is met, whilst overcoming the problem of distance and congestion, accessing most areas of the North West promptly, in turn bringing highly qualified paramedics and sophisticated equipment to the patient.
All the crew are operational ambulance staff who have received special additional training in navigation, meteorology, principles of flight, helicopter safety and helicopter evacuation training.
The Air Ambulance facilitates urgent hospital transfers for critically ill and injured patients, particularly those needing to travel long distances for emergency surgery, for example those with severe head injuries. Inter-hospital transfer for spinal injury is now routinely undertaken by Air Ambulance.
Sponsor forms can be found on the notice boards in the control room and mess room, on the control managers desk and in the paramedic mess room at Bellevue ambulance station.