Why are we Here?
Well the answer is clearly stated in the charity’s objects “to provide an air ambulance service for Cumbria, Northumberland, Durham and the surrounding areas”. However nothing is straight forward and as we, seeing ourselves primarily as a patient centred organisation rather than a helicopter ambulance provider means our first priority will always be the care of patients. Our order of importance therefore is the selection, training, skills and competencies of our medical crews and their effect on patient outcome followed closely by the number and appropriateness of helicopters. Simply put we are here to provide the best of care for our patients and the vision to which we aspire is to provide a world class pre-hospital care system here in our region.
WELCOME TO GNAAS
From your presence we will assume that you are either a supporter of the service, a new and interested visitor or someone with a professional interest in pre-hospital care, whatever your reason for being here as our guest you are very welcome. Please browse the site which I hope provides you with the information you require. Further information can be obtained by contacting us directly, details of which are published further in. Thank you for taking the time to visit with us.
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Helicopters alone do not save lives, however as a vehicle they do provide a high speed platform and one which can get to difficult locations where a road vehicle might struggle. We then add a consultant led trauma team that consists of doctors usually from an Anaesthetic or A&E background with pre-hospital care sub speciality and partner them with advanced trained paramedics. This uncommon crew combination provides a level of care not normally associated with road based schemes or a majority of other air ambulances. Once patients have been critically assessed and treated at scene they are then taken to the most appropriate hospital rather than the nearest thus avoiding a further inter-hospital transfer. By reducing unnecessary delays to definitive treatment the patient benefits from a seamless system of care that ultimately aids recovery. The combination of helicopter, trauma team and direct access to definitive care is what makes an air ambulance a real life saver and one which we hope you would approve of and feel you would like to support.
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Unlike the statutory services we do face limitations the first of which is financial. For instance we do not have the luxury of bidding to the authorities for the next year’s budget which means we start every year with the following questions:
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Where will we get income from this year?
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What level of income will we generate?
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Will the income be enough to maintain the current level of service?
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Will there be sufficient surplus income to improve the service?
The answer to these questions and any assumption we make can only be realised as the year progresses and if during that year we encounter unforeseen difficulties there is little to be done other than appeal to the generosity of the public. It is worth noting, as the recession deepens that many charities are reporting significant drops in income, erosion of their reserves, staff redundancies and a reduction in services, these same charities have become reliant on government funding for a greater proportion of their income either by grant or public service contracts and the situation in which they find themselves should serve as a warning to those who suggest that the government should pay for air ambulances and alert you to the fact that what the government gives it can also take away.
Other limitations and circumstances can be encountered which will reduce the level of service, these are usually temporary and never permanent, for instance:
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We rely entirely on any one of three ambulance services in our region to activate the air ambulance appropriately, if they fail to do so we cannot help.
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Even with three helicopters on duty there will always be times where demand exceeds availability.
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We cannot fly in bad weather or activate to emergencies in the dark this is not just common sense but also legislated against and effects all air ambulance operations
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Although we directly employ our own operational staff to ensure maintenance of quality like any business our ability to operate fully can be inhibited by short term unplanned absence.
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The planned maintenance of a helicopter can neither be avoided nor delayed. When the regulated cycle of hours is expired the helicopter is grounded until service, maintenance and checks are completed. Because maintenance is determined by hours flown rather than miles travelled it is the frequency of operational activity that determines when this occurs, consequently planned maintenance cannot be pre-planned by either the calendar or the availability of the other helicopters.
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Unscheduled maintenance e.g. breakdown happens when you least expect and can take time to secure and replace new components. If this occurs whilst another helicopter is undergoing planned maintenance like it or not we are two helicopters down.
We always try to anticipate the potential problems and do our best to maintain a full service at all times however despite our best endeavours these things happen. All we ask of you is a considered and balanced opinion which reflects our overall progress rather than any short term setback. Two steps forward and one back will remain a common pattern as the service develops. Try to remember that our aim ‘to provide the best critical care air ambulance service in the country’ is always foremost in our minds.
If you do decide to contribute or you are already a supporter of the charity then on behalf of those who will benefit over the coming months and years thank you.
