Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service Charity
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service was launched on 25th October 2000 and is the first dedicated air ambulance to operate in Yorkshire.
It has flown over 2,200 mission to date, literally hundreds of which have been life saving and has attended several serious road traffic accidents and major incidents, including the Selby rail crash.
The Air Ambulance can often access areas that are difficult or impossible for road ambulances to reach quickly and smoothly, e.g. coastal, rural or mountainous areas.
Due to CAA rules the helicopter is operational 7 DAYS A WEEK, 365 DAYS A YEAR during daylight hours.
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance is operationally managed by West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service (WYMAS) in association with Tees, East & North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (TENYAS) and South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service (SYMAS).
The helicopter is fully equipped to front fine emergency road ambulance specification, providing the people of Yorkshire with the best possible pre-hospital patient care.
The Crew and helicopter are based at Leeds Bradford International Airport.
The Air Ambulance can become airborne within two minutes and can travel at a speed of over 140mph, resulting in a rapid response to a scene of an incident.
It can be just about anywhere in Yorkshire in twenty to twenty five minutes, and most places in a lot less. As an example, the air ambulance could be in Hebden Bridge within around 10 minutes of getting the call.
The Air Ambulance can also deliver a fast inter-hospital transfer of seriously ill or injured patients and a high level of patient comfort, especially to patients with relevant head, neck, back and spinal injuries.
The helicopter has the capacity to carry a pilot, two paramedics and their equipment. It can transport one, or in extreme cases, two patients.
And wherever it lands within Yorkshire, there is a hospital within 10 minutes flying time. This means that injured patients can be taken smoothly and quickly for specialist care. The swift medical involvement of the Air Ambulance crew can have a major impact on a patient’s chance of survival and recovery.
The air ambulance does not replace traditional ambulances, but is an additional service.
The Department of Health has agreed to stump up the £200,000 a year cost of keeping two paramedics airborne.
Although the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service Charity has recently received a small amount of government funding, we still depend predominantly on fundraising support and donations. The overall annual cost is circa £1 million.
It costs £375 each time the craft takes off from its base at Leeds-Bradford Airport.
How You Can Help
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service Charity needs your help to enable us to continue to provide the people of Yorkshire with a life-saving helicopter and the best possible pre-hospital patient care. If you feel that you would like to help, please contact us at the address below.
Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service
(Registered Charity No: 1084305)
Address:
Office D255
Dean Clough
Halifax
HX3 5AX
Telephone:
0845 120 6060
Fax:
01422 280 123
Email:
Web:
www.yorkshireairambulance.org.uk
Compiled by Alex Lush, Posted 21-06-2005.
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