ESSEX AIR AMBULANCE VISIT
Leigh-on-Sea.com visit the Essex Air Ambulance
Driving out to the Essex Air Ambulance base was like entering a film set. Out in the middle of nowhere (actually at Boreham, near Chelmsford) with a high security gate, we half expected a UFO to appear.
| Instead we were met by the warm and friendly crew of Essex’ only air
ambulance - paramedics Bob Clarke and Dave Weightman, and pilot Ian King. A crew of 17 takes shifts to man the air ambulance base, which receives no funding from the NHS or government, relying entirely on donations. |
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Costing £350 an hour to run, the helicopter – which has room for two stretcher patients, two paramedics and the pilot – is never more than 8 minutes away from any one of the county's major hospitals.
"The Essex Air Ambulance Service requires £60,000 each month to keep the helicopter fully operational. The bottom line is, no money, no fly." Said Bob.
Last July the AA came on board to enable the helicopter to operate seven days a week, instead of five, and recently it was repainted in its corporate colours.
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Pilot Bob Brett said the colour change made no difference to its
visibility, but the financial input from the AA meant that they were fully operational
every day. "Without the AA sponsorship deal a national network of Air Ambulances would have been ten years away." He added |
The Air Ambulance has the ability to access remote parts of Essex quickly, bringing
highly qualified paramedics and sophisticated life-saving equipment to a patient within
the first few vital minutes of an emergency.
It is not affected by the ever-increasing traffic congestion on our busy roads and country
lanes and is able to reach areas inaccessible to a land vehicle, such as in woods, on
beaches, docks and golf courses.
Paramedics, all drawn from the Essex Ambulance Service, work with the helicopter one week a month and spend much more of their free time fundraising and giving talks to raise the profile of the air service.
Dave, who wears a patch over his heart made by his 5-year old daughter, takes the job in his stride and is just the sort of friendly, down-to-earth presence you need in an emergency. You get the impression these people could look after you no matter what!
"We do love the job," said Dave, "but you have to keep very fit incase you need to run from the landing site to the emergency with a heavy medipack on your back!"
| But just as he’s describing what the crew do between calls (check the
kit, clean the aircraft, drink coffee!), a bell goes and it’s action stations. Dave and Bob leap into action, running to take the call details while the pilot immediately starts the engine. |
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The excitement in the air is palpable but just as the tension is mounting, Bob signals to cut the engine.
"The call came in on the wrong line- it was a new girl in the centre and although we do still have a job – it’s not a red call. Just starting the engine then cost £70. That’s why we need constant funds to keep going."
Soon the blades are whirring away again as the crew embark on the inter-hospital transfer of a patient with an urgent spinal injury.
"We can get the patient from Colchester to London in under half an hour – by land that could take 3 hours – time the patient may not have" explained Dave.
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And like comic book heroes, the crew take to the sky – but this
isn’t a comic book story. Real lives are being saved by these dedicated pilots and paramedics – and without fundraising there would be no happy endings. |
