The air ambulance doctor and paramedic teams have the specialist skills, equipment, and experience to look after ventilated Covid-19 patients outside hospital. The charity will use its Cambridge-based helicopter to fly its teams around the region.

EAAA has already assisted with three transfers so far and is gearing up for more with the expected peak of hospitalized patients.

Matthew Jones, Director of Operations at EAAA, said: “We are doing everything we can to support the NHS during the Coronavirus pandemic and the best way our critical care teams can help is to directly support hospitals when they reach capacity. By transferring critically ill patients to hospitals with spare capacity, we can use our specialist skills to make sure that those patients can continue to get the expert care they need while our hospitals manage unprecedented numbers of critical care patients.

“The EAAA critical care teams are still flying every day to respond to 999 calls and provide a helicopter emergency medical service for the region, as well as supporting with the care of Covid-19 patients. EAAA is also helping to fight the pandemic by seconding some of its staff to the NHS to share their specialist skills.”