Cornwall Air Ambulance, which was recently awarded with the prestigious Investing in Volunteers award, was able to carry out almost 900 missions in the year 2017. Out of these, more than 600 were medical flight missions. The total amount of patients they helped for the year is enough to fill 10 double-decker buses. Their lifesaving services extended throughout the Isles of Scilly and the Duchy.
Highest Total Missions in More Than Five Years
During 2017, the medical flight crew of Cornwall Air Ambulance completed a total of 869 missions. These numbers are the highest they’ve ever been in more than five years. According to the air ambulance’s leaders, these higher numbers can be credited to the extension of their operating hours. Now the crew is on call till 2am for four days in a week.
The charity’s MD902 helicopters were used for carrying out 670 missions in total. The remaining 199 missions were carried out using the critical care cars operated by the charity. A majority of the calls they responded to were in the Isles of Scilly. Bodmin and Newquay were also among the top-serviced regions.
Medical flight Crew Treated More than 700 Patients
Among the 869 missions carried out by the crew, 742 of them involved providing treatment to sick or injured patients. While the air ambulance was primarily used for providing swift transport to the hospital, the crew can now provide lifesaving emergency care with their advanced equipment and critical care skills.
461 of the emergencies they responded to involved medical conditions. 397 of the people they treated were suffering from serious injuries. One out of three missions involved patients with a heart problem. The air ambulance also helped in carrying out 11 inter-hospital transfers to ensure timely treatment for patients.
