Air ambulances report busy summer as demand rises

Air ambulance services reported a rise in emergency call-outs over the summer, with increased demand putting pressure on crews and running costs.

Cornwall Air Ambulance flew 107 missions in July and helped 84 people, while Devon Air Ambulance said it had been 7-10% busier than the same period last year.

Both services said the increase was partly linked to good weather and more people visiting the South West, with road traffic collisions, sporting injuries, illnesses and cardiac emergencies among the incidents attended.

Devon Air Ambulance operations director Tania Martin said: "More people means more likelihood of injury and illness to occur."

Cornwall Air Ambulance chair David Richard said the service was increasingly focused on treating seriously injured patients at the scene, rather than immediately taking them to hospital.

He said newer helicopters provided "far better facilities to look after people at the scene", adding that "the only thing that really stops us is the occasional weather".

Tania Martin said about 56% of Devon's summer call-outs had been trauma related, compared with 44% involving medical incidents.

She said the increased workload was "demanding for our staff", while the charity had also faced higher running costs.

"We think there's been about a 50% increase in our current spending on fuel from last year," she said.

David Richard said Cornwall's new helicopters meant crews could "go further afield" and gave them "far more flexibility".

He said road traffic collisions remained some of the more serious incidents attended in Cornwall, alongside strokes and heart attacks in remote areas.

Both services thanked the public for supporting their work.

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