2022 proved to be another busy year for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s aircrew, who undertook 1,061 missions across Wiltshire, Bath and the surrounding areas. The charity’s helicopter was used for 670 (63%) of the missions, with the remaining 391 incidents attended by critical care cars.
A total of 263 patients were transferred to local hospitals (up from 237 in 2021), the majority of which to Royal United Hospital, Bath (84), Southmead Hospital, Bristol (63) and Great Western Hospital, Swindon (44).
Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s director communications Barbara Gray said, “We have a very dedicated aircrew – consisting of pilots, critical care paramedics and doctors – who respond to emergencies, on average, three times a day, 365 days a year.
“We know it is a really difficult time for the country right now, with fuel and energy bills rising, along with inflation, contributing to this current cost of living crisis. However, we remain ever grateful to our amazing donors and local businesses who continue to support us and help raise the £4 million it costs each year to keep our air ambulance flying and saving lives.”
The largest number of call outs were to cardiac emergencies – 351, which equates to a third of all missions and a rise from 306 in 2021. There were 174 road traffic collisions attended, plus 74 medical collapses, 51 sporting incidents and 44 assaults. A total of 139 incidents involved children, while 31% of all missions (329) took place at night.
The charity attended 32 missions in Westbury while the largest number of incidents responded to were in 173 in the Swindon area and 83 in Bath. Other areas where the team were called to attend include: Amesbury – 11; Bradford-on-Avon – 17; Calne – 20; Chippenham – 72; Corsham – 17; Cricklade – 4; Devizes – 49; Malmesbury – 16; Marlborough – 33; Pewsey – 10; Royal Wootton Bassett – 17; Salisbury – 69; Tidworth – 3; Trowbridge – 76; Warminster – 36 and Melksham – 42. The aircrew were also tasked to incidents outside of its operational patch, including in counties such as Berkshire, Bristol, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Somerset.
In total, 22% of incidents were outside of Wiltshire and Bath (down from 23.5% in 2021). Wiltshire Air Ambulance is a charity and receives no regular direct funding from the Government or National Lottery grants. Each year the charity needs to raise £4 million to continue flying and saving lives.
Pictured: The Wiltshire Air Ambulance aircrew.
