20 Oct 2022
In August 2022, London’s only air ambulance service attended to 201 patients. This is significantly higher than our average of five patients a day. In comparison, our advanced trauma team attended to 165 patients in July 2022.
Assault was the most common mechanism of injury, resulting in 55 patients (27 per cent). Other or unknown mechanisms of injury resulted in 53 patients (26 per cent), road traffic collisions 40 patients (20 per cent), falls from height 31 patients (16 per cent) and medical injuries 22 (11 per cent).
These patients were critically injured and may not have had time to get to hospital. London’s Air Ambulance brings the emergency department to the scene in time-critical scenarios like these. August 2022 witnessed 45 rapid sequence intubations, 18 blood transfusions, 10 femoral arterial lines, six thoracotomies and other life-saving procedures administered at the roadside. The crew also performed REBOA once during the month: an innovative procedure that uses balloon surgery to control internal bleeding. In 2014, the world’s first pre-hospital use of REBOA was performed by London’s Air Ambulance.
After our paramedic and doctor teams administer life-saving treatments at the scene, the patients are transported to a London major trauma centre. This month, The Royal London Hospital received 43 per cent of our ground escorts, St. Mary’s Hospital 25 per cent, Kings College Hospital 13 per cent and St. George’s Hospital 16 per cent. We also flew two patients back to The Royal London Hospital – on top of which lies our helipad – which is a rare occurrence.
We attend incidents in all 32 boroughs of London: in August 2022, Tower Hamlets, Brent and Lambeth had the highest number of patients. We’re here for everyone who visits, lives and works in London, 365 days a year, 24/7. But we’re up against time as we need to replace our two helicopters by 2024, which will cost an additional £15 million.
Can you help support our Up Against Time appeal, and ensure we can continue to be there for London?