The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (MAAC), formerly County Air Ambulance, is a charity operating a
Helicopter Emergency Medical Service
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 ...
(HEMS) in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands. It operates three aircraft.
History
The Midlands Air Ambulance was first registered as a charity in 1990, and started using the County Air Ambulance name in 1993. The role of the charity is the provision of HEMS in the Midland counties of England.
[Midlands Air Ambulance Charity Trustees Report and Annual Accounts 2007/2008](_blank)
/ref>
It also provides secondary support to neighbouring counties. It responds to 2,000 potentially life saving missions every year.
At launch, the charity operated a single helicopter based at Halfpenny Green Airport and, at its peak, had grown to operating three aircraft covering across 12 counties of England and Wales.
The reduction in areas covered began in 2006 and was largely due to other air ambulance charities setting up or expanding and to consolidation of West Midlands Ambulance Service
The West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust (WMAS) is responsible for providing NHS ambulance services within the West Midlands region of England. It is one of ten ambulance trusts providing England with emergency medi ...
(WMAS) assets in the WMAS areas of responsibility. The operating name was changed back to Midlands Air Ambulance in 2009 to reflect the smaller area covered.
Until 31 March 2008, the charity also served the East Midlands Ambulance Service
The East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS) provides emergency medical services, urgent care and patient transport services for the 4.8million people within the East Midlands region of the UK - covering Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire (exc ...
(EMAS) area, based at East Midlands Airport
East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () ...
, but, after some political wrangling between WMAS and EMAS, the aircraft was withdrawn and redeployed into Tatenhill, Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...
.
On 3 April 2014, MAAC introduced its first wholly owned Eurocopter EC135
The Eurocopter EC135 (now Airbus Helicopters H135) is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters (formerly known as Eurocopter). It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted wit ...
helicopter (registration G-OMAA), which replaced one of the three leased aircraft.
In September 2015, three MAAC team members were honoured with a Pride of Britain Award following their response to a collision on The Smiler ride at Alton Towers
Alton Towers Resort ( ) (often referred to as Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park, water pa ...
.
In November 2017, doctors began working all shifts from all three airfields, working alongside a paramedic and pilot. Previously, only RAF Cosford had a doctor on-duty on a daily basis, leaving the other two bases with dual paramedic coverage.
On 20 February 2018, MAAC received a brand new Airbus Helicopters H145, the second aircraft owned by the charity. The aircraft was handed over at the Strensham services base, before being transferred to RAF Cosford.
Organisation
The charity is supported by paramedics from WMAS and doctors from their respective NHS trusts. In the year to March 2022, MAAC had an income of £18.0million, and expenditure of £11.2M, of which £7.4M was spent on providing the air ambulance service.
The charity is generally funded by charitable donations given by companies, organisations, and members of the public, although in 2021 it received seven government grants totalling £668,000.
MAAC should not be confused with the County Air Ambulance Trust, which is a separate registered charity.The County Air Ambulance Trust Annual Reports & Accounts for the year ended 30 September 2007
/ref> That charity raises money for the provision of infrastructure items (such as helipads at hospitals) and also make an annual contribution towards a number of air ambulance charities, including the Midlands Air Ambulance.
Coverage
The service covers the counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
, Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...
, Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouths ...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of ...
(which is also served by the Great Western Air Ambulance) and the West Midlands. It also provides secondary coverage to the surrounding areas.
Helicopters
, MAAC use two Eurocopter EC135 helicopters and a Airbus Helicopters H145 based at RAF Cosford
Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford (formerly DCAE Cosford) is a Royal Air Force station in Cosford, Shropshire, just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton.
History
Origins
RAF Cosford opened in 1938 as a joint aircraf ...
in Shropshire, Tatenhill Airfield
Tatenhill Airfield is a licensed airfield operated by Tatenhill Aviation Ltd. Its CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P813) allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee, Tatenhill Avi ...
in Staffordshire, and Strensham services
Strensham services is a motorway service station on the M5 in Worcestershire, England. It is operated by Roadchef. In August 2011, it was rated as 4 stars (southbound) and 3 stars (northbound) by quality assessors at Visit England.
Unusuall ...
on the M5 motorway in Worcestershire. Each helicopter is crewed by one pilot, one doctor and one paramedic, and occasionally a second paramedic.
The pilots and helicopter maintenance are provided by Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore
Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore, formerly Bond Air Services ( Bond Aviation Group), is an operator of air ambulance, police, and offshore windfarm helicopters in the UK. Babcock operates a mixed fleet of light twin-engine helicopters c ...
, who also lease aircraft G-HWAA to the charity.
See also
* Air ambulances in the United Kingdom
Air ambulance services in the United Kingdom provide emergency medical functions, patient transport between specialist centres, or medical repatriation. Services are provided by a mixture of organisations, operating either helicopters or fixe ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Air ambulances in the United Kingdom
Air ambulance services in England
Charities based in the West Midlands (county)