How long does the air ambulance take to respond?
The air ambulance is usually airborne within three minutes. It flies at 120mph (2 miles a minute) and from Thruxton Air Base it reaches most locations in Hampshire in fifteen minutes. Flights to Isle of Wight take a little longer. A typical mission lasts about ninety minutes.
Helipads exist at Basingstoke, Bournmouth, Salisbury, Portsmouth Queen Alexandra and nearby St Marys IOW. Southampton General Hospital is seeking planning permission for one.
Does the air ambulance fly at night?
Some air ambulances fly at night. Scotland provides a twenty four hour service but these are hospital transfers more than HEMS (helicopter emergency medical service) missions. Some counties operate joint police / air ambulance and may be equipped for safe night operation.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance does not operate at night as our current helicopter is not equipped for this. Landing on unknown terrain with the risk of unseen hazards, like telephone or power cables, would be unsafe. After the evening rush hour, our roads are usually less congested allowing comparable response time by land ambulances.
Apart from speed what are the benefits?
One of the major benefits of the Air Ambulance is that patients can be taken quickly to the hospital which is most appropriate for their injury, rather than the nearest hospital. For example, if the patient was suffering from burns, they could be taken to the burns unit at Salisbury District Hospital, or if there was a suspected head injury, the patient could be taken to the neurological unit at Southampton General Hospital.
Statistics in Germany show that the average stay in intensive care is shortened between five and seven days where the patient was transported by Air Ambulance. Also there are 9% fewer wound infections, a significant reduction in the number of deaths occurring during transport to hospital, and death from head injuries is down 15%.
How much does the air ambulance cost to run?
The air ambulance costs around £92,000 per month to maintain the service - approx £3,000 per day.
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