Second air ambulance for SCAA

Sir,

2020 is set to herald a major advancement in the provision of emergency pre-hospital care in Scotland.

This spring, Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) will launch a second life-saving air ambulance helicopter, flying expert clinical care to the scene of serious illness and injury and airlifting patients onwards to definitive hospital care.

The new helicopter – callsign Helimed 79 – will operate from a new base at Aberdeen International Airport, providing an identical service to the charity’s existing helicopter, Helimed 76, based at Perth Airport.

Working in tandem with Scotland’s two government-funded helicopter air ambulances (based at Glasgow and Inverness), SCAA’s two helicopter air ambulances will play a critical role in the country’s 999 response network, flying help and hope to communities in every part of the country.

Since the charity’s first service launched in 2013, SCAA has touched the lives of thousands of patients.

This amazing service has only been made possible thanks to the generosity of people all across Scotland who have taken the tireless work of fundraising for the life-saving charity to their hearts.

People have walked, run, abseiled, dressed up, dressed down, baked, cycled, climbed, collected, sung and sponsored friends – an endless array of innovative and thrilling fundraising tasks – all to help fuel a service that needs your support today to ensure it is there for you tomorrow.

Sustaining a second helicopter air ambulance is a major challenge for SCAA but with the people of Scotland behind us we are confident we can deliver more help, to more people, more often as we add to the capacity and resilience of these vital national lifesaving resources.

Thank you to everyone who is already supporting SCAA and to those who will get behind us in the future and help fuel the life-saving flights that could impact on your family, your friends, your colleagues or your community.

A happy and safe New Year to all from everyone at SCAA.

John Bullough, chairman, Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance