Emergency flight hours extended by donors
SERIOUSLY ILL or injured patients from across Yorkshire are to benefit from extended air ambulance flying hours thanks to a generous donation.
The HELP Appeal (Helicopter Emergency Landing Pads) gifted £123,000 to the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
The donation has been used to fund important lighting and fire fighting equipment on the helideck at the Leeds General Infirmary, which is enabling air ambulances to land later into the evening to allow access to the Major Trauma Centre.
Leeds is one of 22 Major Trauma Centres in England providing life-saving treatment for adults from West Yorkshire and children from the wider region.
Peter Giannoudis, Professor of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery at the trust, said: “The HELP Appeal’s kind donation will have a huge impact on patient care.
“It will facilitate the prompt transfer of seriously injured patients to Leeds Major Trauma Centre allowing the medical staff to intervene early, save lives and reduce morbidity.”
HELP, a national charity, was set up to provide Major Trauma Centres with the necessary new or upgraded base infrastructure to enable night landing.
Robert Bertram, chief executive of the HELP Appeal said: “People can become seriously ill or injured anytime of the day or night and with clocks changing, there is even less daylight for air ambulances to land safely on hospital helipads.
“This new, state of the art lighting system at Leeds General Infirmary’s helipad solves this problem.”