Air Ambulance Week takes-off across the UK

Air Ambulance Week 2021 takes-off across the UK from 6 to 12 September, with air ambulance charities across the country delivering the vital message that Every Second Counts and Every Penny Matters when saving the lives of people with a sudden life-threatening injury or medical emergency

Air Ambulance Week is the only week in the year dedicated to raising awareness and funds for the vital lifesaving work of air ambulance charities and is organised by Air Ambulances UK, the national charity that supports, champions and represents UK air ambulance charities, enabling them to save even more lives and improve patient outcomes

Through sharing patient stories, the week raises awareness of how air ambulance charities save thousands of lives every year by rapidly delivering advanced lifesaving pre-hospital care directly to patients at the scene of a life-threatening injury or medical emergency, essentially bringing the A&E department to the patient when every second counts towards survival.

The event also highlights that air ambulance charities collectively make around 500 lifesaving missions a week across the UK – a total of about 30,00 a year – providing vital support to the NHS and forming an important part of the UK’s frontline emergency services.

Each air ambulance lifesaving mission costs on average around £2,500–£3,500 and is almost entirely funded by donations. That’s why every penny matters and why it is vitally important to support air ambulance charities and help them to save the lives of more people like Chris who was involved in a life-threatening collision with a car while he was out training for a 100-mile cycle challenge.

The East Anglian Air Ambulance team worked for over an hour to deliver the enhanced pre-hospital care interventions required to give Chris a fighting chance. These included performing a thoracostomy, a procedure to release air to treat a collapsed lung, and anaesthetising Chris to take control of his breathing.

Without the enhanced interventions of the air ambulance team, he would not have made it to hospital.

Chris said: ‘I’m still not 100% but I know how close I came to dying and I’m just so, so glad that I didn’t and so grateful to the East Anglian Air Ambulance that they were there to save my life.’

How to support air ambulance charities during Air Ambulance Week

To celebrate Air Ambulance Week, Air Ambulances UK, Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland and Raffolux, the online raffle company, have partnered to launch the Every Second Counts prize draw, which people can enter to be in with a chance of winning a stylish Audi Q3, while raising funds for air ambulance charities. To find out more visit www.airambulancesuk.org/air-ambulance-week-2021/

Simmy Akhtar, CEO, of Air Ambulances UK said: ‘A sudden life-threatening injury or illness can happen to anyone, anywhere at any time. When it happens, every second counts towards survival. That’s why the vital lifesaving work of air ambulance charities is so important and why we are encouraging everyone to support air ambulance charities during Air Ambulance Week.

‘With many air ambulance charities experiencing a significant rise in call-outs and many fundraising activities over the past year being adversely effected by Covid-19, now more than ever, air ambulance charities need support to ensure they can save even more lives.’