Organised by Air Ambulances UK, Air Ambulance Week 2022 takes off on 5 – 11 September, and Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust (EHAAT) will be joining other air ambulance charities across the UK to raise awareness of its lifesaving work.
What will be particularly great timing for EHAAT, is that Air Ambulance Week coincides with the mass catering episode of Celebrity MasterChef 2022, which takes place at its airbase at North Weald, and airs on BBC One on Tuesday 6th September at 9pm. The semi-finalists will be battling for a place in the final week, and they will be cooking for pilots, medics and support staff who work for the life-saving charity.
The Air Ambulance Week campaign titled Critical Moments – Lifesaving Difference, is aimed at highlighting how air ambulance charities make a crucial difference in critical moments. Anyone, anywhere in the UK could become a patient at any time.
Each EHAAT Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) team consists of a Pilot, a Co-Pilot, a Pre-Hospital Care Doctor and a Critical Care Paramedic. These air ambulance crews can be rushed to the scene of an incident, with life-saving support equipment to deliver advanced clinical care that is normally only found in the hospital emergency department. Once stabilised, the patient will be conveyed by air or land to the most appropriate hospital for their needs.
In 2021, EHAAT attended 2,545 missions; 1,317 missions were delivered by air ambulance and 1,228 missions were delivered by Rapid Response Vehicles (RRVs). These comprised of 991 medical emergencies, 485 road traffic collisions, 419 accidental injuries and 650 other trauma incidents.
Emma Barker, Head of Income Generation at EHAAT said, “Our committed, highly skilled, critical care team remain dedicated and ready to help when someone is having the worst day of their life. Each mission costs on average around £2,200, but as we receive limited direct funding from the Government and none from the National Lottery, we rely heavily on the generosity and goodwill of the local communities of Essex and Hertfordshire.
“We can’t fly without you, and we are very grateful to our sponsor, Specialist Aviation Services (SAS), who is supporting us during Air Ambulance Week. But now more than ever, we need support from the people and businesses of this region. There are lots of ways to get involved during Air Ambulance Week, just click here to find out more.”
