London's Air Ambulance Charity Strategy Document

SAVING MORE LIVES

London’s Air Ambulance Charity: Future direction and strategic plan 2018-2023

OUR MISSION

Compassionate

We care about people and put them at the heart of everything we do. We are kind, respectful and always keen to listen to feedback.

Courageous

We are prepared to achieve our mission in challenging environments. We are authentic, honest and not afraid to challenge and take calculated risks.

Pioneering

We embrace and lead change through our innovation and creativity. We are constantly learning, both from our successes and from our failures to make sure we are always striving to improve.

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

To end preventable deaths in London from severe injury.

OUR

VISION OUR VALUES

OUR FIVE STRATEGIC GOALS

Saving time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us. Outstanding care – to improve patient care and to end preventable deaths. Connecting with the people of London –to increase the number of Londoners who engage with and support our service.

Funding our ambitions – to ensure our financial security and sustainability to fund our organisational objectives. Our culture – continue to develop a supportive and enabling environment that gets the best out of our people.

(See pages 10 to 15)

THINGS WE WILL NOT CHANGE

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

EVERY LIFE MATTERS

Our patients are at the heart of everything we do. Our history and our future are defined by three questions:

1. Are we there for everyone who needs us, as quickly as they need us?

2. Is our care the best it can be?

3. Do we share our learnings for the benefit of patients in London and beyond?

We must be relentless in constantly reviewing the answers to these questions.

WORKING TOGETHER TO SAVE LIVES

London’s Air Ambulance could not provide its life-saving service without its unique partnership with Barts Health NHS Trust, London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) and the people of London.

Barts Health NHS Trust provides doctors and LAS provides paramedics to deliver the charity’s advanced medical trauma team.

We have an integral role in the response to major incidents in the capital, working with others as part of a coordinated effort to provide life-saving treatment at the scene.

We are a charity and reliant on support from the people of London to continue our work. Without the money and time our supporters provide, we could not continue to save lives in London.

We also believe we have a responsibility to share our learnings beyond the boundaries of London. Our innovations in the treatment of severe injuries at the roadside, as well as our medical systems and training, have been shared across the UK and the world.

OUR PIONEERING HISTORY

London’s Air Ambulance Charity was established because of a group of committed, determined and pioneering individuals saw a way to save more lives, despite the medical establishment view at the time that patients with critical injuries could only be treated effectively in hospital.

Today, treating patients before they get to hospital has been transformed into an established medical discipline and our service is a world leader of rapid response care. We have provided support to the capital in its times of greatest need, such as advanced trauma response to a terrorist attack. Our pioneering spirit continues to drive our constant self-evaluation and innovation, to understand what we can do to save more lives.

THE NEED IN LONDON

Serious injury can happen to anyone, at any time. It does not discriminate.

People of all ages and backgrounds are dying in London; dying from injuries that they could survive if they receive the right treatment quickly enough.

In England, severe injury is the biggest killer of people under 40 years old. Road traffic accidents, falls from height, industrial accidents, assaults and injuries on the rail network kill more people under 40 than heart disease and cancer combined.

Serious injury and death are also estimated to cause nearly £4 billion in lost economic output every year.

Quick and effective treatment of patients before they get to hospital is a critical means of combating this issue. Severe injury from road traffic accidents, falls from height, assaults and other accidents is the biggest killer of people under 40 years old in England.

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

!

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

RAPID RESPONSE

Our advanced medical trauma team treats on average five people a day in life-threatening situations.

We attend only the most severely injured people who may not survive the journey to hospital without urgent treatment.

We carry out critical care procedures at the scene of an incident that are normally only found in a hospital emergency department.

We provide:

• A 24/7 advanced medical trauma team, ready to respond 365 days of the year

• A helicopter between 08:00 and sunset

• Rapid response vehicles at all other times

• An award-winning Physician Response Unit (PRU)

– the service operates with three cars and its hours run from 08:30 to 23:00, seven days a week. The PRU responds to 999 calls, treating patients in their homes who would otherwise have often required an ambulance transfer to hospital.

We also form part of London’s emergency response to major incidents in the capital, such as terror attacks, rail crashes and fires, including: the Paddington rail crash; 7/7, London Bridge and Westminster terror attacks and Grenfell fire.

More lives can be saved if we start more complex treatments sooner after injury occurs. With the complexity of treatments increasing, more expertise, research and innovation is needed in our team.

RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

We continue to use our pioneering spirit to look for new ways to save more lives. We research and develop new innovations in treating severely injured patients before they get to hospital.

We are proud to have a number of firsts to our name, which include:

• Ground-breaking roadside surgery only previously carried out in hospital, including open heart surgery

• Pioneering a procedure at the roadside used to control catastrophic bleeding in trauma patients called REBOA (Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta)

• Administering blood transfusions at the roadside

• Leading on the provision of safe pre-hospital anaesthesia.

We are determined to search for ways to reduce the time taken to give patients the life-saving treatments they need, providing a knowledge platform for both civilian and military clinical innovations.

EXCELLENCE IN CARE

and where they need us

Making sure we give the right treatment to patients and providing support to their families in their greatest time of need is at the heart of everything we do.

We founded the Institute of Pre-Hospital Care in 2013, to drive excellence in care standards for treating patients at the roadside. Through the Institute we train and educate the next generation of specialists.

We provide:

• Patient Liaison Nurses dedicated to assisting patients with their transsition back to independent living and supporting bereaved families

• The first BSc course in pre-hospital medicine

• The first MSc in pre-hospital care, started in 2019

• Providing an educational programme and courses for professionals in London and around the world.

The Institute developed a Performance Psychology in Medicine Symposium, sharing our expertise in human factors with the wider emergency medicine sector. We worked with UK Sport’s elite athletes and coaches to develop high performance training.

OUR IMPACT BEYOND LONDON

We believe we have a responsibility to share our learnings beyond the boundaries of London. In the UK and worldwide, we lead the way in treating serious injuries at the scene of incidents.

Our registrars join us on secondments from all over the world, taking the skills and operating procedures they learn to their own hospitals and pre-hospital care services.

Through research, innovation and education activities we have influenced clinical guidelines, governance standards, and the practice of air ambulances in the UK, Europe, the US and Australia.

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when

It was a normal December morning in 2014 and Victoria was cycling through London to work, when she was hit by a lorry, suffering severe pelvic injuries. She was slowly bleeding to death.

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

Victoria still remembers what happened: “The police arrived first and cordoned off the area. Then the paramedics and London Ambulance Service arrived. The next thing I remember is the London’s Air Ambulance team arriving. Simon, the air ambulance doctor, talked me through what would happen next.”

Victoria was deteriorating minute by minute. The team didn’t think she would survive the trip to hospital. They decided her best chance was to stop the bleeding by using a technique called REBOA: a balloon is used to block the main artery from the heart to stop the bleeding. This gave Victoria a chance of surviving the journey to hospital so she could receive the life-saving treatment she needed.

Victoria underwent major surgery over the next couple of days and unfortunately, despite continual efforts by surgeons, her left leg had to be amputated. Victoria remained in intensive care in an induced coma for the following week and she underwent a series of operations where pins where used to stabilise her pelvis.

Her parents and sister, Marie, were constantly by her side. Marie remembers: “The first few days after Victoria’s accident were so difficult, as she was still in such a critical condition and there was a huge amount of uncertainty regarding her recovery. But despite this difficulty, I had such an overwhelming feeling of relief that she had survived the accident.”

Victoria was woken from the induced coma a week later, but it was only two weeks later that she really started to fully understand what had happened.

“I remember the hallucinations I had whilst in intensive care. They were really scary, but it wasn’t until I was on the trauma ward that I started to remember what had happened,” she said.

In February 2015, Vicky was well enough to return home and following three months of intensive physiotherapy she was able to walk with the use of two sticks. A few years on, Victoria is still recovering from the accident physically and has had over fourteen operations. She is now back at work and her outlook on life remains positive.

In September 2019, Victoria joined a team of pilots, doctors and paramedics (including PRU clinical manager Bill Leaning, who treated her on that day), to swim the English Channel in aid of our life-saving service.

The teams were up against undeniably tough conditions, with the attempt being postponed and almost cancelled due to adverse weather. Nevertheless, they fought on against strong tides, heavy winds and even jellyfish to make it to the French coast.

After completing the challenge, Victoria said: “I cannot believe we did it! It means so much to me to have completed such a hard, physical challenge given all my injuries. My team were amazing, and I feel so privileged to have shared this with them.”

VICTORIA’S STORY

I cannot believe we did it! It means so much to me to have completed such a hard, physical challenge given all my injuries. My team were amazing, and I feel so privileged to have shared this with them.”

FUTURE DIRECTION

HOW WE WILL SAVE MORE LIVES

Our long-term objective: To deliver the best possible service in London to everyone who needs it, when and where they need it. We will deliver this objective via two strategic goals and three enabling goals.

Save time and where they need us OUR

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

us.

We will constantly look for ways to reduce the time it takes us to reach and treat patients, to ensure we can help everyone in London, whenever and wherever they need us. To save time we will:

• Embed the enhanced clinical model for delivering our service, and launch the new paramedic model, ensuring maximum expertise on every mission

• Produce plans to redevelop our helipad, to make our response quicker

• provide a new rapid response Par fleet

• Prepare for the provision of a new helicopter fleet

• Working with LAS to roll out the GoodSam app - providing video links to the scene of an accident via public mobile phones to give advice and treatment before we arrive

• Continue to influence policymakers and politicians to ensure we can continue to deliver our rapid response services

Outstanding care – to improve patient care and to

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

We will relentlessly seek ways of improving the care we provide to patients and their families in their greatest time of need. We will:

• Review and deliver our clinical strategy, working closely with our partners, to ensure we continuously innovate and improve the treatment we provide and keep patients at the heart of everything we do.

• Carry out research/feasibility studies into:

» Investing in our research infrastructure and people, ensuring we have the resources and expertise to continue to improve the treatment we provide

» The next stage of REBOA to control catastrophic bleeding in trauma patients

» Head injuries and how best we treat head injury patients at the roadside

» The causes of death in trauma patients, so we have better knowledge to develop the best possible treatments for the future

» The use of pre-hospital Extra-Corporeal Life Support (ECLS) - a way to bypass the heart and lungs to keep a patient

alive while they are transported to hospital

» The use of Emergency Preservation and Resuscitation (EPR) to cool people into suspended animation at the roadside to provide a chance for resuscitative surgery in hospital

» Providing whole blood transfusions at the roadside

» Building a knowledge bank, recording the chemistry of blood samples from people who have suffered serious injury

» Introducing the use of fentanyl lozenges

» Having more Patient Liaison Nurses available in London to provide the best support we can to patients and their families

» Collecting and recording data to drive our innovations and improvements, providing a knowledge base that can also be used to drive wider innovation in both civilian and military settings.

end preventable deaths.

3 Connecting with the people of London – to increase the number of charity givers in London who support our service.

time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

Save

We need to build our relationship with the people of London to successfully deliver our strategic goals. To do this we will:

• Build a better awareness of our charity, raising our profile to ensure people across the capital understand the work we do

• Develop our schools programme across London to engage children and young people in our work

• Work with the people of London to influence key decision makers and politicians to ensure we can continue our life-saving service

• Develop our speaker programme to ensure our story is being told to interested groups and organisations across the capital

• Increase the number of people who support us by volunteering/giving their time and enhancing the experience of our existing volunteers.

We need to ensure that we can fund our ambitions over the next five years and deliver our strategic goals. In order to ensure a sustainable and resilient level of income we will:

• Pilot and roll out a community fundraising model, to increase our fundraising activities at the heart of London’s diverse communities

• Develop and deliver a legacy programme, encouraging more supporters to leave a gift to us in their Will

• Continue to build and grow donations from individuals, through our lottery, raffle and regular giving products

• Test fundraising across different channels

• Sustain and build our support from corporate partners, trusts and foundations.

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

4

Funding our ambition – to ensure our financial security and sustainability to fund our organisational objectives.

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

Our culture – continue to develop a supportive and enabling environment that gets the best out of our people.

People are our greatest asset in being able to deliver our lifesaving service. We will invest in the development of our people by:

• Leading, managing, recruiting and appraising according to our values

• Supporting all our people to be leaders through learning and opportunity, including understanding and investing in the individual development of our talented team

• Devising a learning and development programme to enhance skills and support good management

• Introducing quarterly temperature checks of the organisation, to replace the annual staff survey

• Introducing cross functional work shadowing as part of the induction process

• Form working groups to enable employee representation, social activities and wellbeing

• Implementing HR intranet and using it for management reporting and benchmarking.

Nigel was riding his scooter to Wembley in November 2017 to watch a Tottenham v Real Madrid football match when he was hit by a truck.

A policeman was first on the accident scene and realised that Nigel would need the expertise of London’s Air Ambulance advanced trauma team if he had any chance of survival.

Nigel had serious internal injuries. His lungs were punctured and his windpipe twisted. The London’s Air Ambulance team operated on Nigel at the roadside, putting him in an induced coma and performing a tracheostomy to help him breathe.

Once stabilised, Nigel was taken by ambulance to St Mary’s Hospital. Thanks to the care he received he made a full recovery and after 12 days was able to return home and resume normal life.

Six months on, Nigel is now volunteering for London’s Air Ambulance Charity. He said: “I had hardly any memory of my accident. I wanted to find out what had happened and wished to thank those involved in saving me.

“I met with the doctor and paramedic from London’s Air Ambulance who had administered emergency treatment that kept me alive long enough to make it to hospital. It was at this meeting that I discovered the breadth and depth of the work done by the service.

“Most importantly, like most Londoners, I had no idea that London’s Air Ambulance was a Charity. So it was a no-brainer for me to volunteer to help raise funds.”

NIGEL’S STORY

Most importantly, like most Londoners, I had no idea that London’s Air Ambulance was a charity. So it was a no-brainer for me to volunteer to help raise funds.”

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

CONNECTING

WITH THE PEOPLE OF LONDON

• REBOA zone 1 training

• Head injury fellow in post

• Additional Patient Liaison Nurse (delayed due to funding)

• Whole blood trial agreed

• Golden Hour Fellow in post

• REBOA zone 1 training

• Head injury fellow in post

• Additional Patient Liaison Nurse (delayed due to funding)

• Whole blood trial agreed

• Golden Hour Fellow in post

FUNDING OUR AMBITION

• Plan for 30th anniversary

• New branding developed

• Schools outreach programme developed

• Marketing strategy developed

• Develop political influencing and campaigning

• Increase volunteer and speaker network

• Roll out recommendations of data review

• Embed enhanced clinical model

• Review access to landing sites

• Helipad expansion research

• GoodSAM app upgrade

• Expansion of PRU

• REBOA zone 1 moved to study format

• Head injury research

• Additional Patient Liaison Nurse (delayed due to funding)

• Whole blood trial PhD Fellow appointed

• Clinical strategy review

• ECLS trial commenced

• Adenosine trial approved

• Review research requirements

• 30th anniversary delivered

• New branding rolled out

– Prince William as Patron

• Schools outreach programme increased

• Fundraising strategy developed

• Parliamentary reception held

• Increase volunteer and speaker network

• Community fundraiser pilot undertaken

• Number of regular givers increased

• Number of lottery players increased

• Develop legacy marketing programme

• Build pipeline for funding capital and clinical projects

• Develop major donors’ programme

• Community fundraising rolled out in South West London

• Increase number of regular givers increased

• Number of lottery players increased

• DRTV first test

• Develop legacy marketing programme

• Develop mid level giving programme

• Successful 30th anniversary gala event held

• Cultivate pipeline for capital and clinical projects

• Leadership framework in development

• HR intranet project scoped

• Management training in place for first time managers

• Staff surveys / health checks introduced

• HR intranet delivered

• Identify skills gaps and develop L&D programme

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

• Roll out helipad digital strategy

• Embed enhanced clinical model

• Helipad expansion delivery

• GoodSam app as part of digital strategy

• Expansion of PRU

• Define requirements for helicopter replacement

• Night operations feasibility

• Extra team – develop case

• REBOA zone 1 study approved

• Head injury strategy development

• Additional Patient Liaison Nurse funding achieved

• Whole Blood trial study outcome

• Deliver new clinical strategy

• ECMO trial paused due to COVID-19

• REWIRE (Adenosine) study outcome

• Ultrasound programme delayed due to COVID-19

• Community fundraising collateral produced

• Schools programme delayed due to COVID-19

• MP Engagement in light of COVID-19

• Volunteer and speaker network development paused

• Prince William as Patron

• Community fundraising adapted for London

• Recruitment of regular givers paused for COVID-19

• Recruitment of lottery players paused for COVID-19

• Development of digital lottery / gaming

• DRTV second test during lockdown

• Legacy marketing launched

• Mid-level giving programme launched – Innovation Circle

• Develop capital appeal to fund helicopter replacement

• Identify diversity gaps and address

• Establish a programme of learning lunches / Brown Bags

• Cross function job shadowing introduced - delayed

• Wellbeing group established and mental health training rolled out

• Service-wide culture survey

• Roll out digital strategy

• Helipad expansion delivery

• Expansion of PRU 2 confirm funding

• Helicopter selection shortlisting completed

• Night operations – pilot planning

• Extra team – recruiting and trialling

• New car fleet required

• REBOA zone 1 study completed

• Head injury fellow

• Patient Liaison Nurse expanded and follow up rates defined

• Whole Blood – need for national SWIFT trial to support role out

• Clinical strategy partner alignment

• ECMO next phase study continued to be delayed by COVID-19

• REWIRE trial slower to recruit then planned

• Ultrasound programme launched

• Increase our presence in London communities delayed due to COVID-19

• Schools programme delayed due to COVID-19

• MP Engagement delayed due to COVID-19

• Volunteer and speaker network development paused due to COVID-19

• Prince William as Patron

• Develop influencer programme

• Develop integrated campaigns

• Community fundraising developed

• Increase number of regular givers – impacted by COVID-19

• Increase number of lottery players – impacted by COVID-19

• Develop strategy for cash supporters, paused due to COVID-19

• DRTV trialled during Channel 4 “Emergency”

• Continue legacy marketing programme

• Grow Innovation Circle

• Launch private phase of capital appeal

• Map out key skill requirements and career pathway development

• Introduce internship apprenticeship programme

• Introduce cohesive wellbeing work programme across all teams

• Recruitment process review and training

• Recruit EDI consultant and Director of People

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

• Roll out digital strategy

• Helipad expansion complete

• PRU 3 – further expansion

• Helicopter replacement – tender and selection

• Night operations programme paused

• Extra team – Medic 3 - available

• New car type fleet ordered

• LAS CAD change. Review / update London’s Air Ambulance dispatch

• REBOA fellow and consultant lead in post

• Head injury strategy roll out – new SOP

• Patient Liaison Nurse cover meeting follow up rates

• Clinical strategy roll out

• ECMO trial restarted

CONNECTING WITH THE PEOPLE OF LONDON

FUNDING OUR AMBITION

• Increase our presence in London communities

• School programme restart

• MP engagement restart

• Volunteer and speaker development restart

• Whole Blood national SWIFT trial scoped and recruited across 10 air ambulances

• REWIRE paused for evaluation

• Embed ultrasound, refine equipment

• EPR design study criteria

• Community fundraising developed

• Increase number of regular givers

• Increase number of lottery players

• Develop strategy for cash supporters

• DRTV campaign paused

• Continue legacy marketing programme

• Grow Innovation Circle

• Launch public phase of capital appeal

• Manage and monitor P&P pipeline for UAT

• Cross team leadership training - equipping leaders

• Establish an in-house training programme

• Embedding a learning culture

• Re-run Culture Survey

• Prince William as Patron

• Develop influencer programme

• Big City Collection and media push good pilot for full integration

• Engage with government on funding

• Recreate UAT campaign branding, key messages and narrative and roll out

• Create content for key audience touch points

• Plan for integrated Spring UAT push

• Manage and assist Steering Groups and Senior Volunteers

• Deliver CRM

• Deliver improved supported experience

• Expand customer acquisition channels

• Develop new product based on supporter insight

• Improving communications and collaboration

• Digitise staff handbook and induction

• Reviewing rewards and people practices – competency framework; financial wellbeing strategy

• Roll Out digital strategy

• Upgrade offices on 17th floor

• PRU move to new base

• Delivery and Management of Change programme for aircraft

• Night flying on hold pending new airframe delivery

• Review and adapt Medic 3 trial model

• New car fleet delivered

• London’s Air Ambulance dispatch upgraded

• Head injury lead consultant / further fellow

• Additional Patient Liaison Nurse

• Whole Blood national SWIFT trial begins

• ECMO next phase scoped/funded

• 20 ECMO ‘study days’ run

• REWIRE study continues

• Focus on grass roots community engagement

• Restart and revamp schools programme with Up Against Time (UAT) messaging

• Focus on core MP, local council and peer engagement with funding and UAT focus

• Publish results and refine protocol

• EPR programme suspended

• IOPHC focus on team training

• IOPHC fellows reviewed. Training / simulation fellow(s) recruited

• Equipment review concludes – new packs

• Focus on two core key communities

• Renew Royal Patronage

• Develop influencer and integrated campaigns as be part of the Up Against Time appeal (UAT)

• Consistent drum beat of content and comms to enhance media outlet relationship and increase coverage

• As a community focus on connecting London

• Increase number of regular givers and retain. Slight shift in acquisition / retention shift to 60/40

• Increase number of lottery players and retain current. Slight shift in acquisition / retention shift to 70/30

• Cash supporters focus to be in line with Spring UAT

• Roll out legacy strategy and streamline legacy admin

• Continue in line with UAT pipeline management

• Focus on UAT across whole fundraising and marketing

• Enhancing our culture

• Equipping leaders

• Improving communications and collaboration

• Manage and monitor UAT pipeline

• Engage with government on funding

• Ensure consistency of UAT branding and messaging and develop for key audiences

• Ensure the journey of the build is captured for all audiences

• Roll out integrated Spring UAT push with essential supporter journey follow up

• Manage and assist Steering Groups and Senior Volunteers

• Roll out CRM project if agreement given in November 2022

• Reviewing rewards and people practices

• Embedding a learning culture

• Actions from Culture Survey

FINANCIAL OVERVIEW EXPENDITURE

We entered the period of this strategic plan in our strongest ever financial position, but we still have further to go to achieve our ambition. We had £5 million in unrestricted reserves – equivalent to approximately six months operating costs – should the worst happen. This put us in a good position ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, our long-term aims require significant cash expenditure, particularly around maintaining and eventually replacing our helicopters in 2024, as well as funding improvements to patient care and treatments.

The impact of COVID-19 in 2020 has made this funding challenge much greater. We estimate the direct income we have lost due to the pandemic is around £5 million, but the impact has been compounded by the challenges of war in Europe and the deteriorating economic environment for many. Despite this, we have continued to invest in fundraising to diversify our income streams and to enable us to meet our target to fund our ambitions, including the new helicopter fleet.

INCOME

The lottery continues to be our largest income stream for the immediate future, but concentrated investment in other regular giving activities will see our income from regular giving increase over the coming five years, overtaking lottery income. This will be achieved by investing in our face-to-face fundraising teams. Legacy income is expected to grow over time, as we start to develop our programme of activity from 2018 onwards.

The nature of the work we carry out incurs substantial running costs in maintaining and updating our helicopter and car fleets.

We are also at the forefront of researching and developing new innovations for treating patients at the roadside to save more lives in the future.

The need to invest in fundraising campaigns to not only raise funds to continue and improve our operations but also to boost the charity’s profile over the coming five years will require a significant increase in fundraising costs in the short term.

We are committed to reducing our charitable spend ratio to ensure we are as efficient and sustainable as we can be and every penny possible is being spent on saving more lives.

ASSETS

The charity owns its two helicopters and these will be replaced in 2024 at a cost of £15 million, which will be funded by the Up Against Time appeal (see page 24).

Our rapid response and PRU cars are leased and grant funded.

The cash reserves are currently held in cash accounts, the Trustees will continue to consider and review the most appopriate investment policy.

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

1989

Launched following research that 1,000 people killed by trauma that could be mitigated by pre-hospital care.

2012

Blood carried on board.

First training course launched for Advanced Paramedics.

First successful roadside thoracotomy.

1999 2014

First response cars added, four nights per week.

2001 2015

Physician Response Unit launched Provided advanced critical care to medical cardiac arrest.

2006 2016

Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) crew course launched.

2007 2017

PreHospital Care programme launched.

2010 2018/19

Pre-Hospital Care recognised by the General Medical Council.

New, faster, response car fleet. Patient Liaison Nurse appointed. UK first PreHospital Care BSc launched via Institute.

First prehospital REBOA.

New dispatch app to reduce time to patient side.

Extended summer flying hours.

First training course launched for pre-hospital REBOA. First paramedic education/lead appointed.

Second helicopter operational. PRU relaunched 12 hours, seven days a week. New clinical model introduced; Patient Liaison Nurse core funded. First London Trauma Nurse Conference.

24x7x365 operations.

Replaced response car fleet to provide mix of vehicles to support future trials. Whole Blood trial commences. Launch of MSc in Pre-Hospital Care. First PRU Conference.

1993 SAVING TIME OUTSTANDING CARE 22

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us

UP AGAINST TIME APPEAL

Time is precious when a life is on the line. Every day, we are up against time to save lives in London. When an injury is so serious that there is no time to get to hospital for treatment, our crews are the only ones who can perform emergency surgery at the scene. Our helicopters get us to the patient’s side in 11 minutes.

London’s Air Ambulance Charity operates a fleet of two helicopters: we acquired a second helicopter in 2016. Having two aircraft means we can still reach patients if one helicopter experiences mechanical issues or is undergoing routine maintenance. It also provides greater resilience for London when a major incident occurs: for example, during terrorist attacks (our crew were first responders to the Westminster Bridge attack of 2017.)

The number of MD902s (our current helicopters) is in decline in the UK. As a result, by Autumn 2024, our existing helicopters will become increasingly difficult to maintain and find spares support for. We will struggle to keep our fleet flying beyond this timeframe.

If we don’t replace our fleet, we can’t reach London’s most seriously injured patients in time to save them.

THE NEW AIRCRAFT

Following an extensive selection and contract negotiation process, we have selected two Airbus H-135 T3H helicopters for the replacement of our fleet.

Backed by experience and a long heritage, the H-135 is in service in more than 60 countries. It is known for its endurance, compact build, low noise levels, fuel efficiency, reliability and cost-competitiveness. It is a market leader in emergency medical services worldwide and can be fitted with bespoke configuration to suit our operational requirements.

KEY FEATURES

It’s compact size and bespoke medical fit out makes it perfectly suited to operating in a congested and densely populated city like London. The helicopters are small enough to land safely in busy public areas and as close to our patients as possible, while allowing space for two pilots, medical crew of three, their equipment and a stretcher that can be fitted as required. With an innovative cockpit with a Helionix Aviation Suite there are multi-functional digital screens designed to improve the pilots’ situational awareness and advanced flight management systems will increase their ability to deal with emergency situations. It will also provide 3D maps of an area, alerting the pilot if there is poor visibility or if they are flying too close to a crane or skyscraper.

The compatibility with night vision flying will give us the option to fly after dark in the future. This will be particularly important in the winter months during our peak times in the early evening and rush hour. Our current helicopters are not compatible with night vision technology so we use rapid response cars after sunset to maintain our 24/7 trauma service for London.

As a charity reliant on donations, we are up against time to replace our two helicopters by Autumn 2024.

We need to raise £15 million to do this. We need your help to keep saving lives in London.

Save time – treating everyone who needs us, when and where they need us londonsairambulance.org.uk

Registered Charity (801013)