Devon Air Ambulance treats 5,000th patient

The Devon Air Ambulance crew, based in the UK, has treated its 5,000^th patient since its 2017 clinical independence.

The milestone mission was a road traffic collision (RTC) on the evening of 12 July – an adult male motorcyclist was in collision with a van.

Both carriageways of the dual carriageway, where the collision occurred, are required to be closed to allow the helicopter to land safely, but this wasn’t possible. So, instead, the helicopter landed at one of the charity’s surveyed Community Landing Sites at 21:02.

The land ambulance crew were also on scene and had the patient on board to take him to the waiting aircraft. Once on board, Devon Air Ambulance clinicians were able to further treat the patient and conveyed him to the Derriford Major Trauma Centre in Plymouth.

Charlotte Leventis, Head of Communications and Marketing at Devon Air Ambulance said: “Sadly, we have been tasked to a total of 171 RTCs across Devon so far this year and we are working closely with Vision Zero Southwest to reduce the number of road deaths in Devon.

“Being able to treat our 5000th patient has only been possible due to the kind and generous donations received from supporters across Devon and beyond. Our thoughts are with the patient involved in this incident and of course, their family and friends.”