Altymeter, Sorry I attributed, mistakenly, the comment re Plod to you and thank you for your thank you. I personally would like to see the Air Ambulance service being fully funded by Government but, as they seem to be determined to run down the NHS in even the basic service areas, I can't see it happening no matter which party is in power.
It is true that some police forces and Ambulance trusts do join services and fly in the same aircraft but I wonder how much of that is due to the fact that smaller County Police Forces can only afford to run an Air Unit by finding joint funding from elsewhere. I am sure the same can be said of the Ambulance Trusts who share the aircraft with police. Who knows, perhaps one day the politically inept leaders of this country will get their act together, sort out their priorities and begin to give all the emergency services the funding and manpower they require to do the job required of them without putting their staff at risk. As for the comment within this topic about the emergency services spending their money wisely, the force budget is controlled by the Police Authority who have the right of censure over spending proposed by the Chief Constable. As they receive no training and are very often swayed by the forcefulness of the local Chief Constable, who knows what they will spend their money on?