Devon Air Ambulance to acquire H145
UK HEMS charity Devon Air Ambulance has signed a contract with Airbus Helicopters to receive a H145 helicopter.
UK HEMS charity Devon Air Ambulance has signed a contract with Airbus Helicopters to receive a H145 helicopter.
The service currently operates EC135s from its base in Exeter. The new helicopter will be due at the base in mid-2020, says the service, and is ideal for its use due to the increased cabin size and flexibility for special intensive care transportation.
According to Heléna Holt, CEO of Devon Air Ambulance, extensive research was conducted to find out which aircraft would best fit its needs as a service. “We are fortunate that we have some extremely knowledgeable flight operations and clinical staff, who have been fully engaged over the past 18 months looking at all the options available to us, not only for the airframe itself, but also the state-of-the-art interior and medical equipment we can carry,” she added.
The h145 is ‘perfect’ for the services needs, according to Holt, and will allow for the service to provide high levels of patient care.
Devon Air Ambulance was launched in 1992 and assisted nearly 1,000 patients in 2017.