some Ambulance trusts somewhere are trying to change it
vortexadminman > that's because (in general) it's the Ambulance trusts that have the money, not the police, and thus the power to make such changes. Sussex Air Ambulance are putting £250K into the Sussex Police helicopter for example (
source)
my local police helicopter only flies on average 3hrs per day
Skyhigh-Ulster > that's average, most police units are somewhere in the range 2-3½ hours a day average
in the air, but that means nothing unless you take into account the on-call hours and the number of tasks per day. Remember that EMS tasks take the helicopter out for much longer periods of time - in many cases the helicopter lands and shuts down while the medics do their work in readying the patient for flight. Time when the Police maybe pacing up and down their Portacabin wanting their helicopter back. I know it does work in Wiltshire and Sussex, but their police usage is well below average (Wiltshire's helicopter averages a mere 1.7 hours a day -
EMS included - on basis of it had flown only
5295 hours at Dec06 from delivery Jul98)
Here's a thought... In Devon, they have a population of 1.12M and two EMS helicopters, and are currently replacing one with
a new EC135 bought for cash. On that basis, Northern Ireland with a population of 1.74M could afford three helicopters, and London with a population of 7.5M could afford THIRTEEN helicopters. Bravo to Devon Air Ambulance for showing what can be done through hard work and successful fund-raising. Embarassing for London with their one helicopter, though, they always seem to appear in the press suggesting they are short of money. Short of organised fund-raising, more like....