THE FLYING DOCTORS...
Meet the medics who could soon be soaring over the Lakes in jet suits to get to their patients more quickly
NEXT time you are in the Lake District, look to the skies – you might just see a flying paramedic.
Mountain rescue teams in the national park are trying out an innovative new way to reach injured people, which they hope will be operational in the near future.
With 18 million visitors a year, the national park is one of the UK’s busiest destinations. During the summer, paramedics with the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) rescue 15-20 injured people a week from treacherous terrain. If it’s difficult to land an aircraft, mountain rescue teams must set off on foot which means injured people may have to wait a long time for medical care.
Director of operations Andy Mawson, a paramedic at the GNAAS for 11 years, began to wonder if it would be possible to rescue people more quickly by jet suit. Andy began working with Gravity Industries founder Richard Browning, inventor of the jet suit and, in 2020, they met in Cumbria for a test flight.
It took Richard just 90 seconds to reach the top of Bowfell, an otherwise arduous 25-minute climb on foot.
The 1,050-horsepower jet suit – which you can see in action on YouTube – uses five mini jet engines, two attached to each hand and one built into a backpack. The jet engines use the same fuel as commercial airlines, Jet A1, and can also run on road diesel.
Its current speed record is 85mph but, rather than soaring through the sky like Iron Man, Andy says the medics will fly just a few feet in the air.
“In one of the tests we did a 50-minute walk in four minutes… so it’s crazy quick!” says Andy.
The jet suit medic would need to take critical care equipment so they can treat casualties.
“We would aim to carry about 10kg of kit, which is quite a lot,” says Andy.
“We’d carry equipment to manage bleeding and breathing problems and also medicines and equipment to inject them. We could also carry a warming blanket and some oxygen.”
Andy is amazed at how well his team has adapted to the new tech and hopes they will soon take to the air for real.
“Flying feels crazy,” he says. “One of our paramedics is a brilliant flyer – he has truly felt how awesome the suit can be. Two of our medics are learning the basics – it’s like still having your stabilisers on your bike! Once they come off you truly feel how awesome riding a bike can be and how free you feel.
“The jetpacks haven’t been used in real life emergencies yet – we’re still learning how to make it a reality. ”