Big milestone for Derbyshire air ambulance as it completes 40,000 missions

Since 2003, the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA) has touched the lives of thousands of individuals and families, with the crew attending an average of five missions a day.

A former patient from Derbyshire, Nick Forsyth, who was anaesthetised and put onto a ventilator, enabling the air ambulance doctor to optimise his blood pressure and oxygenation after he had suffered a heart attack and collapsed while playing five-a-side football, has highlighted just how vital this service is.

He said: “Obviously I have no recollection of being treated by the air ambulance doctor but I am incredibly grateful to all the crew on the helicopter for attending.

“The quality of care I received from everyone involved in my rescue and recovery was incredible. I am now feeling so well it is as if nothing happened, which is testament to them all.”

Funded by public donations, with each mission costing an average of £1,700, the charity is proud to have reached its 40,000th mission, and needs the continued support from the public to enable them to continue saving lives.

Your Local Air Ambulance CEO Andy Williamson said: “This is an incredible milestone for the lifesaving service we provide across our counties and further afield.

“You never know when a call will come in for our vital services, but we do know that when it does, our critical care teams are there for everyone 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“We have reached this 40,000th mission milestone as a charity providing continued support to the NHS which has been vital during these last few months.

“After the difficult time we have all found ourselves in, and with the new replacement aircraft underway, we desperately need the public’s support now more than ever to enable us to continue providing leading pre-hospital emergency care to our patients and to reach that next milestone.”

To help your local air ambulance, visit www.airambulanceservice.org.uk or call 0300 3045 999.