22/07/2022

NI's Air Ambulance Service Celebrates Fifth Anniversary

Northern Ireland's air ambulance service has been deployed 3,000 times since it officially launched in 2017.

The Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS), which operates for 12 hours every day throughout the year, is marking it’s fifth anniversary today, 22 July.

It is operated by a partnership between the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) and the Air Ambulance Northern Ireland charity.

NIAS Medical Director Dr Nigel Ruddell said: "In those five years the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and the Air Ambulance Northern Ireland charity have worked together to ensure that, on over 3,000 occasions, patients have benefited from the highest levels of clinical care provided by the doctor and paramedic team.

"Every call is received in ambulance control with NIAS paramedics dispatched to the scene but, on an average of twice a day, the charity air ambulance is tasked to the incident in support of their road ambulance colleagues.

"Today provides me with an opportunity to thank all those involved in the delivery of the service, including NIAS control staff, NIAS operational staff, the medics in the HEMS team and the pilot, without whose expertise many of these calls could not be reached."

The charity is encouraging donations to be made in support of the service at www.airambulanceni.org.

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