Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance
Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance is an organisation which assists the Scottish Ambulance Service with emergency medical services through the provision of a helicopter air ambulance.[1] The helicopter is run by a registered charity, hoping to raise money from public and private donations in excess of £1.5 million every year.[2]
The air ambulance works alongside and complements the state-funded aircraft that also operate across Scotland.[3] Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance consists of a Eurocopter EC-135 airframe crewed by Scottish Ambulance Service paramedics. The aircraft is based at Perth Airport and tasking is from the SAS ambulance control centre at Cardonald. As of October 2015[update] they have been dispatched on 850 missions.[4]
History
It commenced operations in May 2013 with a Bolkow 105 airframe and flew 40 missions in the first month.[5] After two months the service changed the hours it operated, allowing deployment later in the day. This change was to make the ambulance available at times of high demand.[6] By January 2014 the air ambulance had flown its 200th mission.[7] In May 2014, after a year of operations they had completed nearly 300 missions.[8] By February 2015 the ambulance had been despatched on almost 500 missions.[9]
In March 2015, it was announced that the charity would receive £3.3 m (allocated from Libor fines) which would allow the charity to replace their helicopter with a larger, more capable aircraft.[10]
In October 2015, they upgraded to a Eurocopter EC-135, which is faster and more powerful than the Bolkow.[4]
Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance runs with the radio call sign Helimed 76.[7]
References
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External links
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- Scottish Ambulance Service website
