Callout to the Lomond Hills

It has been business as usual for Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) during the past week’s snowy and icy conditions.

The crew flew to the Lomond Hills at the weekend where a woman sustained leg injuries in a fall while hillwalking.

The accident site, high on the hillside, proved inaccessible to land vehicles but SCAA was able to touch down on relatively level ground nearby and airlift the injured woman to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee - less than 10 minutes away by air.

And a day out mountain biking in the forests near Laurencekirk ended badly for one man on Sunday when he sustained spinal injuries in a fall from his bike.

The injured man managed to get himself to a car park where he was attended to by an ambulance crew and paramedic response unit as SCAA flew in to airlift him to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

With spinal injuries, the man was saved from a bumpy 45-minute journey by road with SCAA transferring him safely to hospital care within around 10 minutes.

Another sporting accident took the charity air ambulance helicopter to the Borders where a teenage girl sustained pelvic injuries after a fall from a horse near Hawick.

SCAA touched down next to the patient around five minutes after Scottish Ambulance Service road crew colleagues arrived at the scene.

They quickly airlifted her to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary - a journey that would have taken a land ambulance well over an hour.

Wintry road conditions prompted a call to SCAA to attend a medical emergency at Royal Deeside this week.

SAS road crew colleagues transported the patient a quarter of a mile to a suitable landing site for the helicopter and SCAA was able to airlift the woman rapidly to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary - just a 10-minute flight away.

Local supporters continue to play a key role in funding the continuing service of Scotland’s only charityfunded helicopter air ambulance.

Among the donations to come into SCAA’s Perth Airport HQ this week was a muchappreciated corporate donation of £1000 from John Wilkie Paper Mill Services at St Fillans.

And BlueSky Experiences at Methven hit the high note for SCAA with a successful music event at the weekend - drumming up £1126.51 for the charity through an event raffle and auction.

Thanks also to Kinnears Inn in Scone who held a Christmas hamper raffle and raised £125 for SCAA.

Retailers who have opted to donate their 5p carrier bag levy takings to SCAA also provide a valuable income stream for the charity. To date, this has raised a total of £22,550.77 for the air ambulance.

The Green Welly Stop handed in their latest carrier bag levy collection this week - a hefty £680.48.

And collecting cans placed in business and retail premises throughout Scotland are even more valuable to the charity.

The latest venue to sign up for a SCAA collecting can is the BP service station at The Triangle, Inveralmond. The latest can emptied brought in £66.95.

Spinal injuries in bike fall