The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is a registered charity, which uses a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

to provide an

air ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

service to the English counties of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. The air ambulance came into service in March 2000, following the success of similar schemes, such as

Devon Air Ambulance The Devon Air Ambulance Trust (DAAT) is a charity providing emergency medical services through the provision of two helicopter-based air ambulances and two critical care cars, which cover the county of Devon in South West England. The helico ...

and

Cornwall Air Ambulance The Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust is a charity that provides a dedicated helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The service also has two critical care cars that operate when the helicopter is unable ...

. The air ambulance headquarters are at

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

in Somerset, but the helicopter is based at Henstridge Airfield in Somerset.

Aircraft

The service operates an

AgustaWestland AW169 The AgustaWestland AW169 is a twin-engine, 10-seat, 4.8t helicopter developed and manufactured by the helicopter division of Leonardo (formerly AgustaWestland, merged into Finmeccanica since 2016). It was designed to share similarities with the ...

helicopter, callsign ''Helimed 10'', which has been in service since June 2017. Travelling at speeds of up to , it can land in an area half the size of a tennis court and can reach anywhere in the two counties within twenty minutes of an emergency call. It is crewed by one pilot, a

paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

and a critical care

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

and can carry two patients on stretchers. The pilots and maintenance staff are employed by Specialist Aviation Services, the company which leases the helicopter to the air ambulance service. The paramedics are employed by

South Western Ambulance Service The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) is the organisation responsible for providing ambulance services for the National Health Service (NHS) across South West England. It serves the council areas of Bath and North East ...

(SWASFT), although a number of these are paid for by the charity, while critical care doctors are seconded from local NHS hospital trusts.

Operations

In the year ending March 2019, the charity was requested by SWASFT to attend 1,118 incidents by helicopter and 276 incidents by road. In May 2011, the charity flew its 8,000th mission, and by 2015 had flown a total of 10,700. Typical incidents for which the assistance of the air ambulance is requested by SWASFT, include road traffic collisions, medical emergencies such as

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...

, and horse riding accidents, due to the remote locations and the severity of injuries involved in such incidents.

Finances

In the year ending March 2022, the charity's income was £10.4million and expenditure was £7.9M, of which it spent £6.9M operating its helicopter and rapid response vehicle. This money has to be raised largely from charitable donations. The charity is supported by volunteers spread across the two counties who work to raise funds to ensure that this service continues. It also runs a weekly lottery, which accounts for 48% of the charity's income. In 2021, it also received £181,000 of government grants. In 2019, the charity's

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

, Somerset racing driver

Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super G ...

, wrote the foreword to Haynes Publishing Group's new publication ''Air Ambulance Operations Manual''. The book, written in the style of traditional

Haynes Manual The Haynes Owner's Workshop Manuals (commonly known as Haynes Manuals) are a series of practical manuals from the British publisher Haynes Publishing Group. The series primarily focuses upon the maintenance and repair of automotive vehicles, co ...

s, features cutaway diagrams of the charity's AW169 helicopter. The publisher is making a donation of £0.75 from the sale of every copy to benefit air ambulance charities across the United Kingdom.

References

External links

* * {{Air ambulances in the United Kingdom Air ambulance services in England Organisations based in Somerset 2000 establishments in England Health in Dorset Health in Somerset

Aircraft

Operations

Finances

See also

References

External links