Air ambulance marks first year

The air ambulance costs over £60,000 per month to run

North Wales air ambulance is marking one year in operation after responding to more than 700 emergency calls.

The ambulance, based near Caernarfon, serves the whole of north and parts of mid Wales and has transported 400 patients since it was launched.

In May, it made 94 flights, making it the busiest service in the UK.

The service can cut transport to hospital times from the most rural parts down from and hour and a half to 16 minutes.

Throughout its first year, the helicopter has remained in the top busiest five out of 20 air ambulance services in the UK.

Air ambulance paramedic Mark Timmins said the craft had been constantly on the go over the past year.

"A lot of our work is road traffic collisions, including with motorbikes, bikes, horses and involving children, but we've been to beaches and mountain tops.

"Unfortunately we've had a few deaths, but we have certainly saved lives by cutting the transport time to the hospital.

Within three quarters of an hour of phoning the helicopter they had landed here, put Elain in the helicopter and got her to the hospital to have treatment John Roberts

"With some of our road networks, the aircraft can save valuable time.

"For example, south of Barmouth it takes one-and-a-half hours to by road to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.

"It's 16 minutes by air ambulance."

An ongoing concern for the service is funding, as all of the aircraft's costs, staff aside, have to be met through charity.

"The ambulance costs £62,000 to run per month and we don't get any running costs paid," said Mr Timmins.

"We don't get anything from the National Lottery either.

"We've got our own air ambulance lottery which is one of our main sources of funding."

He added: "We're desperate for volunteers for people to take collecting tins out there but also for people to collect them and count the money.

Treatment

One family which will always be grateful to the air ambulance are John and Janet Roberts, who live near the river Mawddwy in a remote area of south Meirionydd.

Their two-year-old daughter Elain, had started feeling unwell.

"She went into a coma because of her high temperature and the ambulance came here 15 miles from Dolgellau - it was 60 miles to go to the hospital in Wrexham through the air," said Mr Roberts.

"They saw it was going to be high risk to them and her in the ambulance to Wrexham because she was in and out of a coma.

"Within three quarters of an hour of phoning the helicopter they had landed here, put Elain in the helicopter and got her to the hospital to have treatment."