Wiltshire Air Ambulance paramedic celebrates timely achievement

UK-based Wiltshire Air Ambulance began operating full time in March 1990, when Wilkins was two months old. In January 2015, the charity became a stand-alone air ambulance using its own helicopter.

Wilkins has worked at Wiltshire Air Ambulance since July 2017. “I love working at Wiltshire Air Ambulance – it is my dream job. I’m very proud to achieve my ambition of qualifying as a critical care paramedic and to do it in my 30th year and Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s 30th year is really special. The service has saved a generation of people over the last 30 years and, along with my colleagues, I’m using my medical skills to help save the next generation,” he said.

Before he joined Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Craig worked for six years as a land ambulance paramedic based at Bath Ambulance Station.

Wilkins is now qualified as a specialist paramedic in critical care. He can give advanced drugs for pain relief and sedation, give pre-hospital blood transfusions and carry out surgical interventions at the scene of trauma emergencies.

He said: “Being a critical care paramedic opens up my scope of practice so I can provide a higher standard of care to patients. When I attend patients, they are my world – they are my responsibility and I treat them as if they are my own family ensuring they receive the best possible care.”