Jock and Wokkaboy I was quoting directly from the book. Bleetman was heavily involved in
PR at the front end and describes how he attended a function put on by a group where he was at the end going to recieve a cheque on behalf of the charity. To say that he was "disappointed" at being presented with a cheque of "only" £500 is understating his position. He wondered whether it was an efficient use of his time to spend a whole evening being entertained by no doubt well meaning people for such a small amount.
I found the whole book revelatory, not only about how the day to day operation of an air ambulance works, but also the very real skill of the people involved. Before I read the book I little understood the difference between an "scoop and run" air transfer and a fully equipped Hems operation. Bleetman describes carrying out procedures normally left to the operating theatre, being done literally at the side of the road. Not least does he pay tribute to the pilots, putting the aircraft down in places that did not seem possible. Indeed the very titile of the book "You can't park there!" refers to an incident that caused some consternation with the ground officials, where the pilot chose a rather precarious position to land in order to make it easier to transfer the patient.
All that said, during his tenure at Coventry, the Ops Director was suddenly dismissed, because he finally ran the wrong people up the wrong way once too often. Perhaps in order to get the service running it needed a gritty, no-nonsense person lacking in inter-personal skills, but his style grated with people eventually.
I fear the TCAA is seen as a power grab within air ambulance circles.
These may be Dr Bleetman's words, not yours, but I find it strange to refer to people who give up their own time to raise funds as 'an embarrasment' (SIC)
Every little helps as they say.
It should be pointed out for clarity, all of the doctors onboard donated their time and skills freely. The aircrew were paid by the helicopter leasing company.