From 21 June to 22 September, the charity’s critical care teams, which are based in Eaglescliffe in the North East, and Penrith in Cumbria, responded to 557 incidents.

This included 331 in the North East, 173 in Cumbria, 24 in Northumberland, 10 in the Isle of Man, eight in Scotland, seven in Yorkshire, and four in Lancashire.

The summer is one of GNAAS’ busiest periods of the year, as the warmer months encourages more people to take part in outdoor activities, such as hiking, countryside walks, and playing sports.

There’s also a higher amount of people travelling by car or on a motorcycle for their holidays, day trips and visits to family and friends.

Cardiac arrests and road traffic collisions were the most common types of incidents responded to by the charity over the summer, followed by falls, medical incidents and assaults.

As demand for their service continues to grow, the charity has designed the blueprints for a stronger future, investing in three state-of-the-art Airbus H145 D2 helicopters.

They have already secured the financing for the first two new aircraft through sound financial planning, but they urgently need the public’s support to fund the deposit for a vital third helicopter.

Phil Lambert, chief pilot at GNAAS, said: “With only two helicopters we live on a knife-edge. If one is in maintenance and the other develops a fault, we’re grounded, and that means we can’t answer a 999 call by helicopter.

“A third aircraft changes everything. It gives us resilience and guarantees that when one is being serviced, two remain ready to fly.”

Last year the charity launched Operation SOS: Secure Our Service appeal, which aims to raise £2.5 million to secure the deposit for a third helicopter.

At the time of writing, the charity had raised 33 per cent of their fundraising goal, thanks to the generosity of the public, community groups, and businesses who have donated in support of Operation SOS.

More than £1.5 million still needs to be raised before the end of 2026 to meet the campaign target and GNAAS are calling on the public to help secure the future of its life-saving service.

To find out more about Operation SOS: Secure Our Service and support the appeal click here