24 Oct 2013
London’s Air Ambulance, the Charity which runs London’s only air ambulance has today attended its 25,000th mission. The service, which has been in operation for 23 years, also celebrates a year of being a 24hr operation next month, in April 2011, thanks to the continued support of its sponsors and the London community.
London’s Air Ambulance provides pre-hospital care to victims of serious injury throughout London — serving the 10 million people who live, work and commute within the M25. The service carries a Senior Trauma Doctor and a specially trained Paramedic, essentially bringing the hospital to the patient. In serious cases the patient may not always be able survive the distance to hospital so operations need to be performed on scene.
Last year London’s Air Ambulance attended 1979 incidents, including 185 children under the age of 16. London’s Air Ambulance is a pioneer of open heart surgery at the roadside for chest stabbings and in 1993 carried out this procedure which resulted in one of the world’s first survivors. The service is now experiencing a survival rate of 18% in patients who are clinically dead as a result of this type of injury.
