Great North Air Ambulance

Current operations

GNAAS operates three Dauphin helicopters from its two bases at Langwathby, near Penrith in Cumbria, and Urlay Nook, near Eaglescliffe in County Durham. Between July and December 2021, the service had an average of 85 helicopter call-outs per month.

In hours of darkness, when the helicopters do not fly, North East Ambulance Service funds a Medical Emergency Response Incident Team (MERIT), which is staffed by a doctor and paramedic team from GNAAS. The MERIT service extended in November 2018 to cover Thursday to Sunday nights, which were previously covered on an on-call basis. The service uses Volvo XC90 vehicles.

In 20142015, GNAAS had operating costs of £4.6million and an income of £6.2million. In 20232024, the operating costs were £7.3million against an income of £9.8million, which included a total of £370,000 from government contracts and grants.

In 2020, GNAAS began trials in using jet suits to get from landed helicopters on call-outs to casualties in locations difficult to access. The simulation exercise showed a casualty, whose position it would take 25minutes to reach on foot, could be reached in a jet suit in 90seconds.

History

The air ambulance service began in 1994 with the leased Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil helicopter G-NAAS. MBB Bo 105 helicopters were operated from 2003, and an MD 902 from 2006. 2006 also saw the introduction of the first Dauphin helicopter, G-HEMS. In 2010, the charity consolidated around a fleet of three Dauphin N2 helicopters, which were the first aircraft it owned. This ended the practice of leasing aircraft, which created financial issues. Two of these three Dauphin N2 helicopters were later replaced by newer Dauphin N3 helicopters G-NHAD and G-NHAE between 2019 and 2020. This was done to mitigate the risk involved with flying older aircraft.

In the media

From 8 March 2018, the charity appeared on the Channel 4 TV programme Emergency Helicopter Medics, which followed the crews responding and treating emergency patients. Other air ambulances that featured in the show include Thames Valley Air Ambulance and East Anglian Air Ambulance.

References

References

1. "History". Great North Air Ambulance Service.
2. (25 March 2021). "Great North Air Ambulance founder to leave charity due to ill health". The Northern Echo.
3. (9 April 2021). "Our new CEO". Great North Air Ambulance Service.
4. (21 May 2014). "Chairmanship role for tech entrepreneur". Great North Air Ambulance Service.
5. (10 May 2023). "Manx Care extends its contract with the Great North Air Ambulance Service". gov.im.
6. "The bases".
7. "Great North News".
8. (1 February 2014). "Medical Emergency Response Incident Team (MERIT) Communication Briefing".
9. (11 July 2016). "New all-night response unit proving its MERIT - North East Ambulance Service - NHS Foundation Trust".
10. (11 July 2016). "Patients benefit from all-night service". Great North Air Ambulance.
11. "Where your money goes". Great North Air Ambulance.
12. "Charity Overview: Great North Air Ambulance Service". [[Charity Commission for England and Wales]].
13. (29 September 2020). "The jet suit paramedic". Great North Air Ambulance Service.
14. "The helicopters".
15. "Aircraft Data G-NHAE, 2007 Eurocopter AS-365N-3 Dauphin 2 C/N 6779".
16. "Aircraft Data G-NHAD, 2015 Airbus Helicopters AS-365N-3+ Dauphin C/N 6979".
17. "Aircraft Data G-NHAC, 1996 Eurocopter AS-365N-2 Dauphin 2 C/N 6497".
18. "Helicopter history".
19. (31 March 2019). "The Great North Air Ambulance Service Trustees' report and financial statements". [[Charity Commission for England and Wales]].
20. (5 April 2018). "East Anglian Air Ambulance to star in new TV documentary". East Anglian Air Ambulance.