One of our own: Air Ambulance NI marks major milestone with investment in its first self-owned helicopter
"One of our own: Air Ambulance NI marks major milestone with investment in its first self-owned helicopter
A long-held ambition for Air Ambulance Northern Ireland has been to own its own helicopter and today the charity thanked the public for ultimately helping to make this a reality.
The charity, based at Halftown Road outside Lisburn, welcomed its new arrival — its first self-owned helicopter — and it was an emotional day for all at the headquarters.
The arrival marked a major milestone in Air Ambulance NI’s history since it first took flight in 2017.
And while the aircraft has still to be kitted out, it will be the charity’s primary response helicopter by the end of this summer.
“This has taken years of careful financial planning,” said Kerry Anderson, the charity’s Head of Fundraising.
“This is thanks to everybody across Northern Ireland who has supported this service for the last nine years.
“It’s a huge milestone for us to be in a position to invest in our own asset. It will greatly help us future-proof and to be here for generations to come.
“Whilst the charity has taken delivery of this new aircraft, it doesn't really belong to us. It belongs to everyone in Northern Ireland.
Kerry Anderson head of fundraising for Air Ambulance NI, with the new Air Ambulance that they have now purchased
“On average, our team is activated twice every day,” she added. “That’s to where someone has been critically injured, life is at risk and emergency interventions are needed at the scene.
“Any one of us could be a patient in need of the service at any time.
“As a charity, we work in complete partnership with the NI Ambulance Service, who provide all the doctors and paramedics, all the medical needs. Three million a year is what we need to raise to sustain the service. It sounds like a lot of money, but if everybody in our community does a little bit every now and again, we can continue to make this work to save lives.”
Indeed, the Air Ambulance was put into service for the first time before it was scheduled to ‘go live’.
That was on July 22, 2017, when all training was virtually complete and a call came in asking if they could assist as an 11-year-old boy had suffered serious head injuries on his family farm near Castlewellan.
The 11-year-old was Conor McMullan, and he was a special guest at the arrival of the new helicopter today.
“It was just a normal Saturday morning,” he said. “I was working at the back of the tractor as I always did and my sister looked back when her foot slipped off the clutch. I got trapped between the tractor and a wall. That’s all I can remember until I woke up in hospital.”
Conor’s life-threatening injuries were stabilised at the scene by the Air Ambulance paramedics, who made the decision that they were ready for the operation, meaning Conor’s life was not only saved, but any chance of long-term damage to Conor’s brain was also significantly reduced.
An eight-minute flight to Belfast followed, a journey which would have taken over an hour by road. After treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital Major Trauma Centre, Conor has made a tremendous recovery
“We do what we can to support the Air Ambulance now,” he said, which is something many families who are still living with their loved one thanks to the Air Ambulance do.
For nearly nine years, Air Ambulance NI has been a vital lifeline for communities, responding to over 5,500 call-outs and saving countless lives.
A four-minute ‘call to lift off’ schedule means the aircraft, flying at 180mph, can have a life-saving medical team on scene anywhere in Northern Ireland within half an hour.
Dr David McManus, Chair of Air Ambulance NI, said the arrival of the charity’s own aircraft is a “transformational moment” for the service.
“This is a vital commitment to saving lives in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“This aircraft will offer us a significant gain in operational capability in terms of automation, operations in adverse weather, hours of darkness and speed.
“It will improve patent outcomes, ultimately save more lives and support the future development of the services.
“The idea is that this will save us vital funds in the long run. It will be our own helicopter to do what we need. That’s great news and something we’ve been aiming towards since we started. We finally have one of our own.”
Until now, Air Ambulance NI has been running two leased helicopters, one as a primary response and one as a backup.
The current main helicopter will now become the backup aircraft, with the backup helicopter stepped down from service.
The new helicopter, which arrived from Italy over the weekend, will operate on the same shift patterns as Air Ambulance NI’s current service from 7am-7pm daily.
With Air Ambulance NI solely dependent on public support, the charity is launching a new fundraising campaign to coincide with the delivery of the new helicopter.
The Lift-Off Together campaign is giving members of the public the chance to have their name, or the name of someone special to them, featured on the underside of the aircraft for a donation of £200."
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