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Old 20th November 2001 | 20:09
  #13 (permalink)  
Ally1987
 
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 49
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From: United Kingdom
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Keepin it in trim:

I have some sympathy with your argument, but to take your points one by one:

1. No UK HEMS can do landings at night, it's not just a Scottish thing.
2. The Scottish operation is more than a patient transfer service but not much more. The flying rate is far lower in launches and hours than the English ones and the ratio of transfers to HEMs, in hours flying, is probably 90% to 10%, maybe more.
3. I'd be surprised if the Inverness unit does the job of half an ambulance never mind six. They spent vast quantities of time flaked out on a sofa, and I speak from personal experience
4. "I just think it is wrong that these services in the rest of UK are not funded from government, they take enough in taxes they should not rely on peoples charity for vital services." Yeah, well, there isn't an unlimited pot of money and obviously other people would not agree with your idea of HEMS being a priority -- the vast majority of city-based populations probably get their ambulances in 8 minutes or whatever, anyway. It's not always about money anyway. A huge no-cost improvement in the Scottish service would be a switch from a 'first come, first served' 999 service to a priority based dispatch one.
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