Air ambulance is called to more children in 2021

Bristol’s local air ambulance is called to more children and teenagers in 2021 than ever before

Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) has announced that 2021 was its second-busiest year on record. The Critical Care Team received a total of 1,964 call-outs to incidents across the region which includes Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, and parts of Wiltshire.

The most significant increase in tasked incidents across GWAAC’s whole region was to children and teenagers in urgent need. In 2021, 14% of GWAAC’s total call-outs were to children and teenagers; dispatches to this age group doubled from preceding years. In Bristol 15% of missions were to a child or teenager in need.

Alfie from Bristol, needed GWAAC when he was three years old. His Mum, Becky, said: “If it wasn’t for this fabulous team, Alfie would not be with us today.”

The air ambulance and critical care service, which is charity funded, provides emergency medical care to the most seriously ill or injured in the region. GWAAC’s crew of Critical Care Doctors, Advanced Practitioners and Specialist Paramedics bring the expertise of a hospital emergency department to the scene of an incident. These skills can make the difference between life and death. From roadside blood transfusions to performing emergency surgery to anaesthesia, the crew is specially trained to deliver pre-hospital emergency care to both children and adults.

The GWAAC crew was called to 556 people in Bristol in 2021 which is a call to someone in urgent need more than once a day on average. 28 Fifty-three percent of call-outs to Bristol were trauma-related, and 47% percent of call-outs were medical-related. GWAAC attends more cardiac arrests than any other life-threatening emergency. In 2021, the crew responded to 161 people suffering a cardiac arrest in Bristol. Road traffic collisions were the second highest reason our crew was called to the county with 69 instances in 2021.

Not all incidents are responded to by helicopter. In fact, GWAAC’s three well-equipped branded critical care cars responded to 87% of incidents in Bristol in 2021 — that’s more than three-quarters of the total call-outs to Bristol.

The increasing demand for GWAAC’s service means the charity needs to raise over £4 million a year to remain operational, yet it receives no day-to-day funding from the Government or National Lottery, relying on the generosity and support from local communities.

“Having experienced our second-busiest year on record and with higher than average call-outs to children, I feel very proud of the crew. They have once again shown resilience and courage, and continue to put themselves on the frontline whilst making patients the heart of everything they do.” Anna Perry, CEO, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity.

To find out more about Great Western Air Ambulance Charity’s work, its mission numbers in 2021, and how you can support the charity, visit www.gwaac.com.

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