Devon Air Ambulance have shut down their air operation. Health and Safety. They could not get far enough from each other.
An extract from the press release statement is quite clear....
Heléna Holt, CEO, explains “Standing down our aircraft has been a very difficult decision for us to make but one we have had to take in order to protect all of our crew.”
She added “Whilst the paramedics wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when treating and conveying patients, our pilots cannot operate the aircraft wearing PPE. They also cannot maintain a 2 metre distance between them and the patient. As we have no way of knowing whether a patient has coronavirus, this leaves them completely exposed within a small confined space. We hope our community will understand that this is an unacceptable risk.
"Please be assured that this is a temporary measure and subject to continual review. We will be working with colleagues in the NHS to identify other ways in which we can support the pandemic response as it develops.
"I would like to thank all of our supporters not just for the donations but also for their messages of support during this extremely challenging time. We will do our best to maintain our service and keep being there for patients, albeit by road not air.”
There may be others in the coming days, but the balance reasons given may well be different.
Most UK air ambulance are reasonably well off but they may be embarrassed by some of the "reserves reducing" capital projects they have just launched!
As for the operation in Cork that committed suicide by over reaching its funding which was always tenuous.... there are simply not enough people in Ireland to support it. It was always going to need government funding.