How lucky we are to have the Wiltshire Air Ambulance (From This Is Wiltshire)

How lucky we are to have the Wiltshire Air Ambulance

1:18pm Thursday 18th March 2010 in

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In the skies of Wiltshire a unique partnership has been operating for the past 20 years.

The county’s police force and ambulance service were the first in the country to operate a joint police helicopter/air ambulance and since it was formed it has attended more than 10,000 incidents and saved countless lives.

The Wiltshire Air Ambulance is one of only two air ambulances in the country that can fly at night and is one of only a few that can defibrillate patients in flight.

The police pay 65 per cent of the £1.3million annual running costs of the helicopter while the remainder is raised by the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal solely through public donations.

Retired RAF doctor and pilot Dr Richard Riseley-Prichard, co-founder of the appeal, who lives in the Pewsey Vale, said: “The police officers and paramedics on board the helicopter work in total harmony. From the very beginning it’s been an incredibly cohesive partnership.

“The partnership with the police has allowed us to provide an air ambulance service at a quarter of the cost or even less of a standalone air ambulance.”

The dual role of the helicopter means that being tasked to a police incident, such as finding a missing person, can result in the aircraft being used in its air ambulance role when the person needs to be flown to hospital, saving time and money. In other counties where joint helicopters do not exist a police helicopter would be used and then an air ambulance would be called to transport the patient.

However, the joint partnership was at risk of being broken up when the Great Western Ambulance Service said in 2008 it did not want to renew the helicopter contract for the five years the police were seeking.

Following an outcry from the public and a petition organised by the Gazette signed by 19,790 people, GWAS backed down and signed up with Wiltshire Police for a further five years.

The concept of a joint helicopter came following an incident in 1988 when Wiltshire Police used a helicopter it had hired to monitor the summer solstice celebrations.

While in the air the crew heard of a potentially fatal accident involving a woman on the A350 at Beanacre and landed to see if it could help.

The police observer on board, Mike Evans, said: “It was pointed out to us the casualty would be unlikely to survive the trip to hospital by road ambulance so myself and the pilot, John Ball, decided to get her on board the helicopter to fly her to hospital.”

The front observer’s seat was removed to make way for the stretcher and Mr Evans vacated the aircraft for the paramedic.

The flight to Bath’s Royal United Hospital took five minutes – and the patient survived.