About the DLRAA
This service has moved the emphasis away from simply transporting casualties to hospital, to getting senior doctors and consultants to the scene of incidents as quickly as possible. DLRAA conveys its patients to specialist hospitals that can help specific injuries, not just the nearest hospital.
DLRAA provides life saving treatment and medication on site and en-route to hospital. This is an invaluable service in cases where land ambulances are unable to access the scene or where transfer by land ambulance would be too slow or create more injury to the patient.
No Government or National Lottery Funding!
The DLRAA is a registered charity and relies totally on public donations, fundraising activities and sponsorship. The average cost per mission is around £1400 and the annual basic running cost of the service is over £1.7 million. Currently only able to operate in daylight hours due to the restrictive leasing costs of flying at night, DLRAA aims to become the first service in the UK to operate 24 hours per day.
DLRAA's primary response area is the 2,100 square miles of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland. It will serve in excess of 1.4 million people.
Saving lives
With a top speed of 200mph DLRAA will take just six minutes to reach Leicester Royal Infirmary, under five minutes to get to Royal Derby Hospital and Glenfield Hospital and three minutes to Queens Hospital in Nottingham, from its base at East Midlands Airport.
DLRAA carry a doctor on board. In many situations, this can make the difference between a life saved and a life lost. They will attend any situation where the patient will benefit, regardless of the cost of doing so.
With the M1 running through the area it is a hotspot for road traffic accidents. Receiving rapid and appropriate medical attention is paramount, and there is a significantly increased chance of survival if the patient receives specialist trauma treatment within the first 60 minutes after an accident - the ‘golden hour’.
The Agusta has the lowest cabin vibration of any air ambulance helicopter, essential when transporting serious head, neck or spinal injuries. It has enough cabin space for two stretcher patients and for treatment to continue en route to the whole body if necessary.
Some Mercia Section members had a practical demonstration of the Air Ambulance service in action on 16/09/06 as we were taking a cheque to be presented to the County Air Ambulance at their Strensham Services base.
Jeff Lane, who was leading the group, took a tumble as he approached a roundabout near Stratford on Avon. He sustained a number of injuries and the paramedic who attended called the Air Ambulance as the roads had become blocked due to traffic build-up. The helicopter initially touched down in a field near the roundabout, but when it became apparent that Jeff would need to be airlifted the pilot took off and moved nearer, setting down between two lamp posts, only a few meters away from where Jeff was being treated. From there it was only a few minutes flight to hospital. Without the Air Ambulance there would have been a long wait for the ambulance to arrive, and an even longer journey to the hospital, certainly well out of the "golden hour" that is aimed for.
Hopefully Jeff will be the last person any of us know who use the services of the Air Ambulance, anywhere.
Picture and logo courtesy of DLRAA
