County Air Ambulance

The County Air Ambulance Trust is a United Kingdom regional helicopter emergency medical service.^[1] It operates three Eurocopter EC 135 helicopters during daylight hours as air ambulances in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England.^[1]

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History

The County Air Ambulance Trust was registered as a private limited company in 1995.^[2] In 1996 it became a registered charity, its main business is to support the provision of emergency medical services in the Midland Counties.^[3] It originally operated a single helicopter based at Wolverhampton Airport (Halfpenny Green) and has grown to operating three Eurocopter EC 135 aircraft covering 8000 sq miles of Central England.^[1]

Organisation

The charity is managed by senior paramedics from within the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) and the Chief Executive of that service also serves as the charity's chairman. As a registered charity the trust is funded entirely by charitable donations given by corporate organisations and members of the public.^[1] A separate charity, the Midlands Air Ambulance Fund also collects donations from the general public.^[1] In 2006 the trust had an income of £1,180,100 ^[1]. Although the Trust raises and provides the funds for operating the service, the day-to-day provision of service is under the management of the West Midlands Ambulance Service.^[1]

The air ambulance service is provided using three Eurocopter EC 135 helicopters based at RAF Cosford, East Midlands Airport and at Strensham services.^[1] The service covers the following counties: West Midlands, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Rutland and the English/Welsh border area.^[1]

Helicopters

The County Air Ambulance was the first charity in the United Kingdom to use the Eurocopter EC 135 helicopter to provide a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS). Each helicopter is crewed by one pilot and two paramedics. The paramedics are selected from the ambulance service nearest their base. These services include the West Midlands Ambulance Service, the Great Western Ambulance Service and East Midlands Ambulance Service. The pilots, helicopters and support engineers are provided by Bond Air Services.

References

See also

• Air Ambulances in the United Kingdom