High mission count for Cornwall Air Ambulance

The crew of Cornwall Air Ambulance embarked upon 869 missions during 2017, which is the highest in more than five years, thanks in part to an extension in operating hours which now sees the crew responding to emergencies until 02:00 hrs, four days a week. A total of 670 missions were flown in the air ambulance MD902 helicopters and 199 were carried out in the charity’s critical care cars. These missions involved treating 742 sick or injured patients; a total of 346 of these patients were airlifted to hospital in one of the charity’s helicopters.

Throughout 2017, the air ambulance crew responded to 461 emergencies involving medical conditions and 397 people suffering serious injuries. Just over one in three missions were to people suffering heart problems. The crew also flew 11 inter-hospital transfers to ensure seriously ill patients could get the treatment they needed. A total of 499 residents of Cornwall were treated by the air ambulance crew, with 125 visitors to the county also receiving care. All missions carried out in 2017 were funded through donations from the people of Cornwall and beyond.

Cornwall Air Ambulance missions throughout 2017 included:

·         346 patients airlifted to hospital

·         316 heart-related emergencies

·         130 road traffic accidents (including 31 motorcycle accidents)

·         121 serious falls

·         112 babies, children and teenagers treated

·         60 missions to sick and injured people on the coast

·         48 sporting injuries

·         16 horse riding injuries

·         12 cycling injuries

·         11 emergencies in the water (including surfers and swimmers)