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Local Conservative Flies with Air Ambulance
| Published: 5th February 2010 16:01 |
Leading Conservative Andrew Bridgen has flown with the Leicestershire and Derbyshire Air Ambulance service to find out more about the extraordinary service it provides.
Andrew Bridgen with Paramedic Dylan Griffin The Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for North West Leicestershire travelled in the helicopter to Derby Royal Infirmary from East Midlands Airport where the service is based. While he was there, the ambulance was called out to rescue a man who had fallen through ice.
Last year, the helicopter was called out on 980 missions.
It is funded by charitable donations and needs £1.6m of funding each month to keep serving the area, with huge numbers of volunteers across the two counties carrying out vital fundraising work to ensure the service continues.
Andrew Bridgen said:
"The helicopter flies during daylight hours throughout the year and was called out to help rescue a man from Hinckley who had fallen through ice trying to rescue his dog while I was touring the base.
"The Air Ambulance needs to raise funds to improve its infrastructure by building a hangar and replacing the portable cabins used for the office, with a permanent purpose build office facility. The investment is expected to cost around £600,000 and will be a commitment for the long term to our area."
The helicopter uses paramedics seconded from the NHS. The Air Ambulance also employs its own doctors, who supply extra expertise at the scene of accidents and emergencies.
Andrew Bridgen continued:
"Amazingly I was told that despite its charitable status and the life saving work it performs, the Air Ambulance is ineligible for lottery funding.
"The staff who run the service expressed a determination not to take Government funding with all the controls and targets that currently come with it, but to remain funded by donations and free to set their own goals and to run the service so that it is able to respond to local needs. I think there is a lesson to be learnt there."
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