We were joined this week by Steve Tandy, a volunteer fundraiser for the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance service, the charity responsible for the Yellow Ambucopter we are used to seeing on the coast as well as two critical care cars deployed in more urban areas.
Lincolnshire is the second-largest county in the country not to have a major trauma centre, leading to long journeys on twisty A roads to receive life-saving treatment – assuming an Ambulance even reaches you in time. The Air Ambulance though can be airborne in 5 minutes and arrive anywhere in the two counties within 30, giving people in urgent need a much better chance of survival. Furthermore, the helicopter is not just a method of transport, but an extremely well-equipped space that enables the onboard doctor and paramedic to work on the patient at the scene and on route to hospital.
The critical care cars carry the same equipment for urgent on scene care before patients can be transported to hospital via an ambulance.
The service covers 3,500 square miles encompassing around 2.5M people. On average, it responds to around 5 emergencies each day, almost double the number in 2019 due largely to a rise in serious assaults and stabbings.
This vital service is not cheap however, requiring around £8M to deliver 24 hour coverage 365 days a year. There is no direct funding from the government or the National Lottery making it reliant on donations from the general public and the efforts of volunteers like Steve.
Earlier in the year the club organised a Beetle Drive to raise funds for The Air Ambulance, and president John Clarke was pleased to present Steve with a cheque for the £370 we raised. We thank Steve for an informative and entertaining talk.
Find out more at https://www.ambucopter.org.uk