Mission statistics for 2017 released

Today, we released our mission statistics for 2017 to raise awareness of the work we do treating critically injured patients in the Capital. The data shows that we were dispatched to 1797 trauma patients across London last year.

Key statistics include:

• 1797 patients were treated in 2017 across London, plus patients treated at Major Incidents
• Stabbings and shootings were the most common mechanism of injury followed by road traffic collisions
• Our charity supported the medical response at major and significant incidents including the Westminster, London Bridge and Finsbury Park Mosque attacks and the Grenfell Tower fire.
• The top three busiest boroughs were Hackney (107 patients treated), Newham (103 patients treated) and Westminster (99 patients treated).
• The busiest postcode areas were SE1, CR0 and NW10.

• Dr Gareth Grier, Lead Clinician at London’s Air Ambulance, said:

“Our mission as a service is to provide our patients with the world’s most innovative and effective pre-hospital care. Sadly, through 2017 the number of missions where a patient has been stabbed or shot has risen. It is not unusual now for our teams to perform open chest surgery for stab wounds twice in a single day. This would have been unheard of a few years back.But our world leading treatments means that we can give these and other patients we treat the best possible chance of survival.  We try and deliver this type of advanced care to patients, wherever and whenever a call for help comes. The challenge we have is to innovate further to help our patients even more.

We are grateful to all of those who support our work, and hope that people in London will continue helping us to realise our mission so we can be there for them if they ever need us.”

Jonathan Jenkins, CEO of the London’s Air Ambulance charity, said:

“Whilst we all hope that it will never be us, trauma can sadly happen to anyone. It is important to know that should the worst happen, our advanced trauma team can be at a patient’s side within minutes performing vital and often life-saving interventions. We hope that by releasing these statistics, Londoners will be able to see the scale of our work across the capital, and the way we have helped in their community.

“With our annual costs now at £10 million, we are reliant on the generosity of London to keep our service running, and I urge people to continue to support our charity. Your help allows us to be there for those who need us most."