Project under way to have two new air ambulance helicopters for region
Air ambulance wants to introduce machines into service in 2021
A multi-million-pound investment project to acquire two new lifesaving helicopters has been launched.
The Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance, (DLRAA), along with the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA), have begun a helicopter replacement project which will come to fruition in early 2021.
A spokesperson said: “Every day of the year, your local air ambulance is helping to save more lives at no cost to the NHS. Thanks to the speed and flexibility of the helicopters, within minutes they can be at an incident delivering pre-hospital critical care to patients in order to give them the best chance of survival and recovery.
“As part of the charity’s aircraft replacement project, the clinical teams took the opportunity to review their current and future helicopter requirements and decided to replace the current iconic yellow and grey helicopters with another two new, state-of-the-art AgustaWestland 109SP (AW109SP) – the world’s fastest Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) aircraft.”
Director of Operations for DLRAA, Richard Clayton, commented: “As part of our scheduled programme we are replacing our two emergency aircraft as they come to the end of their working life.
“The HEMS aircraft replacement programme has provided an opportunity to ensure that our future air ambulances allow us to continue delivering the highest quality of critical care and enable us to evolve our operational capabilities with future clinical developments.
“Providing leading pre-hospital emergency care to our patients is of the utmost importance and these two new aircraft will continue to enhance our clinical services and facilitate us in extending our flight hours at both bases next year.
“I am also delighted to be continuing our longstanding partnership with Sloane Helicopters Limited to provide our next generation of HEMS aircraft.”
DLRAA will continue to operate out of East Midlands Airport and have dedicated Critical Care Paramedics and Doctors onboard who are able to perform out of hospital surgical procedures from thoracotomies and caesareans, to amputations by the roadside.
Critical Care Paramedic for DLRAA, Rich Irwin added: “The new AW109SP aircraft has an integral quick start-up time which is crucial to reaching our patients as quickly as possible, and is well suited to our region with large urban areas requiring smaller landing site capabilities, along with great endurance and speed for the more rural areas.
“They will have a customised medical interior, ergonomically designed to provide the service with better access to vital functions and flexibility to carry additional medical equipment.”
This 24/7 lifesaving service reached its 40,000 mission milestone this spring and relies on generous donations to make these missions happen.
DLRAA needs the continued support of their Leicestershire and Rutland community to help support this helicopter replacement project.
Former Leicestershire patient Katie Pease who sustained multiple injuries when her car was involved in a RTC, highlighted just how vital these helicopters are. She said: “If I hadn’t been flown in the air ambulance it maybe that I wouldn’t have made it. I could have lost my leg or my life.”
To find out more on how you can support your local air ambulance’s helicopter replacement project, call 0300 3045 999 or visit www.theairambulanceservice.org.uk