In the first half of this year the Wiltshire Air Ambulance has been called out 5% more times than in the same six months of 2020.
Despite a third national lockdown being imposed on the country in the first few months of 2021, incident numbers have still risen from 544 (Jan-Jun 2020) to 570 (Jan-Jun 2021).
Most of these call outs were for the Air Ambulance itself with 368 for the helicopter and 202 in the Rapid Response Vehicles (cars).
As the Government announced its pathway out of lockdown, incident numbers spiked significantly in April (114) and May (111).
Cardiac emergencies were the main reason for the call outs accounting for 162 attendances. Other emergencies requiring Air Ambulance attention were for those suffering other medical conditions such as strokes, collapses and respiratory problems, totalling 135. Road traffic collisions (99) is third on the list of call outs, narrowly ahead of falls (83).
Wiltshire Air Ambulance airlifted patients or assisted them to hospital by land on 128 occasions. There were 63 incidents across 2021 to date involving children.
The largest number of incidents they were called to took place in the Swindon area – 109, followed by Salisbury (48) and Bath (45).
The Wiltshire Air Ambulance is a charity and relies on donations to keep saving lives. It receives no regular direct from the Government or National Lottery grants and costs £3.75 million a year to keep flying, equating to just over £10,000 per day.
The call outs in Wiltshire and Bath amounted to 76%, with the remaining 24% in surrounding counties like Bristol, Gloucestershire and Somerset.
Wiltshire Air Ambulance has continued to operate throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, ensuring their critical care paramedics are on call for those who need them most. In 2020 they were called to a record number of 1,238 incidents.
Wiltshire Air Ambulance clinical service and ground base manager Richard Miller said: “The last 18 months for our pilots and paramedics has been extremely tough, operating on the frontline and now the need for our lifesaving service continues to rise.
“We really are funded by you, flying for you – and we can’t thank the people of Wiltshire and Bath enough for their ongoing generosity to support our lifesaving work.”
Breakdown of incidents by month
January – 76 (103 in 2020)
February – 87 (86)
March – 91 (79)
April – 114 (68)
May – 111 (87)
June – 91 (121)
Selected breakdown of incidents by category
Cardiac – 28% (35% in 2020)
Other medical conditions, including collapses and strokes – 24% (17%)
Road traffic collisions – 17% (15%)
Falls – 15% (14%)
Sports (including horse riding) – 6% (5%)
For more information about Wiltshire Air Ambulance, go to www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk
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