Biography

London's Air Ambulance (also known as HEMS - Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) is based at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel and the operational area is bounded by the M-25 ring road.

London's Air Ambulance is a Registered Charity (Number 801013)

Over 10 million people live, work or commute into this very densely populated part of the UK. The helicopter operates 365 days a year during daylight hours and is replaced at night by two rapid response cars. The helicopter and response cars always carry a senior trauma doctor and paramedic who can respond within two minutes of the call being accepted.

The average time to critical intervention within the M-25 is 12 minutes by helicopter compared to 40 minutes for a land ambulance. On average there are 3 to 6 helicopter missions a day and since 1989 a total of some 17,000 missions have been carried out.

London’s Air Ambulance deals specifically with ‘major trauma’ which is when there is a complicated and severe life threatening condition involving damage to the brain or spine, penetrating injuries, burns, and fractures. These conditions are primarily the result of severe road accidents, falls from height, industrial injuries, stabbings, shootings, ‘one unders’– people who find themselves under tube or surface trains, and major incidents such as the July 7th London bombings last year or the Paddington rail disaster. On these occasions the medical teams and equipment play a vital role in saving lives. On 7th July the helicopter flew 26 missions back and forth from the various sites and the response cars worked tirelessly. During 2006 a total of 1,306 missions were undertaken, 548 of which were road accident victims

The total cost of operating the charity this year is around £1.7million. After deducting major sponsors such as the NHS and Virgin we need to raise some £750,000 charitably

To find out more about our service, visit our website at www.londonsairambulance.com