Air Ambulances Falling Out?
Article from the Birmingham Post - I hope this does not get out of control as only the patients will lose out in the end!!
Local news
Air ambulance 'breakaway' service Mar 17 2003
By Campbell Docherty, Birmingham Post
A war of words has broken out between the Midlands air ambulance service and a new operator being set up to cover part of the region.
Warwickshire and Northamptonshire National Air Ambulance (WNNAA) has targeted a July launch and is being backed by the Warwickshire Ambulance Service.
Effectively, it will be breaking away from County Air Ambulance, which currently operates three helicopters across the Midlands and enjoys the support of the region's other ambulance services.
WNNAA argues residents in Warwickshire deserve better than the current average response time of 17 minutes, which it claims it can slash to just seven minutes.
It also believes it will be the fastest air ambulance service in the UK and, if enough funding can be secured, will be the only service outside London to fly with a doctor on board.
Currently, no British air ambulance flies at night but the WNNAA will operate a national service flying sick children to a number of paediatric specialist centres such as Great Ormond Street in London.
However, County has questioned the need for the new service and panned its choice of aircraft - the Augusta 109 - claiming it is too big and expensive.
Danny Hopkins, a County Air Ambulance paramedic and one of the driving forces behind the new service, said there was "friction" between the two.
"I am disappointed County are being critical because we have had meetings about co-operating and covering incidents if they cannot, and vice versa," he said.
"We are looking to put a fourth air ambulance in service for the Midlands, everybody wins.
"It is just a matter of personal taste as to whether the actual aircraft is better or worse than another.
"I have flown on all of them and I much prefer the 109 because it is the fastest and gives you the best patient access."
Mr Hopkins said the ambulance can carry two patients and allows paramedics unrestricted access to work on them.
"I know County was thinking about stopping serving Warwickshire when we set up but it cannot do it because it would have to redirect all the donations it gets from the county to us.
"I am not into the politics of which aircraft costs what. All I care about is 17 minutes is not the response patients in the county deserve.
"The air ambulance at East Midlands Airport, which tends to attend Warwickshire incidents more, only operates for five days a week yet County have got £6 million in the bank."
A spokesman for the County Air Ambulance predicted there would be some confusion in Warwickshire among regular fundraisers over which service to donate to.
He added: "I would not want to be too critical of these new plans because obviously we wish them every success but it does seem strange it is being set up when Warwickshire is already served by three air ambulances.
"We have 12 years experience in this field and we would not have chosen that kind of aircraft. It is not as light and agile as we would demand from our own vehicles and it is very expensive.
"The Augusta will cost £1 million a year whereas our most expensive helicopter - the EC-135 - costs around £700,000 a year."
"We will still continue to operate in Warwickshire because over the years we have received a lot of money from donations from the people there and it would be wrong not to continue to support them."
County Air Ambulance, a charitable trust, serves an area of 6,000 sq miles and a population of more than six million people in Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire.
It also covers Gloucestershire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Powys in Wales.