Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance

The current Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, pictured at Thruxton Airfield, Hampshire

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance is an air ambulance service serving the counties of Hampshire and Isle of Wight in Southern England, United Kingdom. It is one of twenty-five air ambulance services in the United Kingdom.

The service began operating on 1 July 2007 and has flown over 3,400 missions. The charity's head office is located at 4 Kings Park Road, Southampton and the helicopter is based at Thruxton airfield near Andover.[1]

Service


The service covers the counties of Hampshire and Isle of Wight and responds where required to traffic collisions, sporting accidents, collapses, and other incidents. Since early 2016, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance have got a new H135 helicopter which is capable of night missions. This new helicopter now allows Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance to operate helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) during both daylight and darkness hours. The current service is operational from 7am to 2am.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance currently has a partnership with Thames Valley Air Ambulance, both of which cover the area that South Central Ambulance Service covers, allowing each service to cover from 7pm until 2am for 16 consecutive nights. This means Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire all have night HEMS cover until 2am.

The service still continues to carry out non-emergency hospital transfers during both daylight and darkness hours.

The air ambulance costs around £230,000 per month to operate efficiently and successfully, roughly £7,500 a day.[2]

Helicopter

The former Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, pictured at Victoria Park, Newbury

The current helicopter is a twin-engined Eurocopter EC135, a type often utilised as an air ambulance. It is usually airborne within four minutes and typically flies at 140 mph, making it capable of reaching most locations in Hampshire within fifteen minutes, though flights to the Isle of Wight may take longer.

The Eurocopter EC135 replaced its predecessor, a 33-year-old MBB Bo 105, in September 2010.[3] The EC135 can carry a crew of up to four, but typically carries two paramedics and one pilot. An additional doctor or family member of the patient may occupy the fourth seat.[4]

The EC135 is powered by two Turbomeca Arrius 2BPLUS engines, has a range of 432 nautical miles and an endurance of roughly 4 and a half hours. The helicopter is fitted with two Garmin GPS systems, moving map displays, two iPad minis, a power line detection system, night vision goggles and a Trakka Systems A800 [5]high intensity searchlight.

Crew

The air ambulance is crewed by one of two pilots and typically two of ten paramedics.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "About Us — Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance". Hiow-airambulance.org.uk. 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  2. ↑ "The Service — Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance". Hiow-airambulance.org.uk. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  3. ↑ "Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance celebrate new helicopter (From Daily Echo)". Dailyecho.co.uk. 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  4. ↑ "The Helicopter — Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance". Hiow-airambulance.org.uk. 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  5. ↑ Trakka Systems
  6. ↑ "The Crew — Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance". Hiow-airambulance.org.uk. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
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