Information on Loughborough

County Air Ambulance

Posted on 27/09/2007
P. Klein

county air ambulanceAt East Midlands Airport is a base of the County Air Ambulance which provides a real service to our and neighbouring counties.

Travelling at over 2 miles per minute, the pilot can get the two paramedic crew to those who are in need and stuck in accessible places. The casualty can then get them to the most appropriate hospital directly. Minutes really do save lives and there are countless people who owe their lives to this priceless service.

Today (27th September 2007) saw Charnwoods previous Mayor,  Cllr. Ken Pacey, arrive at the local air ambulance base to present a cheque for the money raised during his term of office. Each Mayor on election launches a Charity Appeal for the cause of their choice and the County Air Ambulance was Ken Paceys. During his term, a massive £17,179.95 was raised for the Air Ambulance. This is the highest amount any Mayoral Charity Appeal in Loughborough has ever raised. The amount raised by people in Loughborough and the rest of Charnwood will enable approximately 18 flights to be made.

The cost of providing and maintaining an air ambulance is a staggering £1,200,000 per year and the local helicopter responded to 720 calls for help last year. The nearby service has two full time pilots and 2 full time paramedics. There are a further bank of pilots and 7 part time paramedics that are used. This gives coverage during daylight hours 7 days a week. The service is occasionally used at night however for safety reasons (e.g. visibility of power cables), this is only between lit helipads.

It is somewhat controversial that West Midlands Ambulance service (who is a trustee of the County Air Ambulance) has announced previously that it is thinking of removing its service from East Midlands Airport. The implication on flight times to reach those who need life saving care is too horrendous to contemplate. If you had a heart attack in a remote area, would you want to wait an extra 20 minutes before trained professionals were on the scene? More importantly this move has been made without consultation to the people of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Rutland and part of Staffordshire who have valiantly raised substantial sums of money to fund a service that covers our area.

Ken Pacey told inLoughborough "The change would cause devastation. How much cost do you put on one life? There is no information  publicising the decision or how a service will be operated in the future. We shouldnt be left without this fantastic service. They [West Midlands Ambulance Trust] have not provided any financial information as to why it should be done.

Seconds after the presentation the phone rang calling for the urgent assistance of the Air Ambulance. It could have been anything from an injured motorcyclist to a fallen horse rider in some remote area where land vehicles couldnt access. This time it was for a suspected cardiac arrest in an inaccessible place in the Chesterfield area. With calm professionalism the pilot, Nick Evans and paramedics Dylan Griffin and Mark Poole got ready and headed to the helicopter. Within two minutes of the call the helicopter was already in the air and heading towards its destination.

Our area needs an Air Ambulance and it needs funds to finance it. If you can make a donation or have a fund raising idea then please contact the County Air Ambulance on 01332 817671. Please note that the County Air Ambulance is not the same as the Country Air Ambulance Trust. Any funds that are given to the County Air Ambulance locally are ring fenced so you can rest assured the money you give will go directly to an Air Ambulance Service in this area.

Pictured above: Paramedic Dylan Griffin, Pilot Nick Evans, Cllr & Mrs Ken Pacey, Barbara Parish and paramedic Mark Poole.

We have additional photographs of the presentation and the crew setting off on the life saving mission in our photograph albums.