A vital life saving service (Air Ambulance)

Member Name: Siamese

Product:	Air Ambulance
Date:	25/10/09 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Saves lives

Disadvantages: They desperately need funding

Air Ambulance

Description - A Helicopter Ambulance providing an emergency service for road traffic collisions, other medical emergencies and hospital transfers.

This review is specifically about my local air ambulance service which is the Great North Air Ambulance Service.

http://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk

The Great North Air Ambulance Service provides, maintains and improves air ambulance cover across The North East of England, North Yorkshire and Cumbria, with its fleet of three aircraft based at Durham Tees Valley Airport, Otterburn DTE Northumberland and Carlisle Airport.

This is another amazing and vital local service who unbelievably receives no government (or lottery) funding. This is something that I find incredible, but they genuinely rely upon donations alongside the income that they try to generate to keep this service running.

I am sure that I don't have to explain why they are so vital, they help victims of car accidents, horse riding accidents, people who urgently need to get to hospital faster than an ambulance can carry them, people who need transferred from one hospital to another, the list really is endless.

The below information from their website helps to explain things a little more;

GNAAS provides a 7 day per week 10-hour per day helicopter emergency medical service. However the helicopter is only part of the overall cost of providing an air ambulance service. The costs relating to the clinical and operational aspects of the service, comprise of the helicopter lease, flying hour charge, fuel, pilotage, unscheduled maintenance, landing fees, hangarage, insurances, medical crew, equipment, medicines, consumables and operational bases. To remove any one of these, the charity could not operate a helicopter emergency medical service.

If the GNAA does not operate in your area, chances are that there is an equivalent service which does and chances are that they too are desperate for funding. Please consider what you could do to help, whether it is donating time or money. You could maybe fundraise and help to raise both cash and awareness in your area. I guarantee that it would help to make a difference.

Summary: Please support this charity