Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance
File:Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance logo.gif | |
Founded | 26 October 2010[1] |
---|---|
Type | Charitable organisation |
Registration no. | Scotland SC384396 OSCR SC041845[2] |
Location | |
Aircraft operated | Airbus H135 |
Website | www |
Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance is an organisation which assists the Scottish Ambulance Service with emergency medical services through the provision of helicopter-based air ambulances located in Tayside and Aberdeen. The helicopters are run by a company that is a registered charity.
The air ambulances work alongside and complements the state-funded aircraft that also operate across Scotland.[3] An Airbus H135, callsign Helimed 76, registration G-SCAA, is crewed by Scottish Ambulance Service paramedics. The aircraft is based at Perth Airport and tasking is from the SAS ambulance control centre at Cardonald. As of March 2017[update], they have flown 1,300 missions.[4] A second aircraft, Helimed 79, registration G-EMAA, operates from Aberdeen Airport.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/G-NDAA_Bo105_SCAA_colours.jpg/220px-G-NDAA_Bo105_SCAA_colours.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/G-SCAA_Prestwick_20181004.jpg/220px-G-SCAA_Prestwick_20181004.jpg)
History
The organisation registered as a charity in Scotland in October 2010.[5] In late 2012, SCAA was hoping to raise money from public and private donations in excess of £1.5 million every year.[6] It commenced operations in May 2013, with a MBB Bo 105 airframe, registration G-NDAA, and flew 40 missions in the first month.[7] After two months, the service changed the hours it operated, allowing deployment later in the day. This change was to make the ambulance available at times of high demand.[8] By January 2014, the air ambulance had flown its 200th mission.[9] In May 2014, after a year of operations they had completed nearly 300 missions.[10] By February 2015, the ambulance had been despatched on almost 500 missions.[11]
In March 2015, it was announced that the charity would receive £3.3m, allocated from Libor fines, which would allow the charity to replace their helicopter with a larger, more capable aircraft.[12]
In October 2015, they upgraded to a Eurocopter EC135, which is faster and more powerful than the Bo 105.[13] The new EC135, registered G-SCAA, previously operated for the NHS funded air ambulance in Scotland as G-SASB.
The charity reached 1,000 call-outs in March 2016.[14]
Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance runs with the radio call sign Helimed 76.[9]
In April 2018, the charity announced that a drive was underway to raise £6m towards the running of a second helicopter for a three-year period.[15] In November, they announced that this second aircraft would be based in Aberdeen and that they hoped that the service would be running by late 2019.[16] A four-year contract was signed with Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore in September 2019 for a Eurocopter EC135, callsign Helimed 79, to operate from Aberdeen International Airport from early 2020.[17]
Awards
Crew members were chosen as "Rural Heroes 2017" by the judges at the Scottish Rural Awards.[4]
See also
References
- ^ https://www.scaa.org.uk/about-scaa/our-history/
- ^ https://www.scaa.org.uk/about-scaa
- ^ "Charity Air Ambulance for Scotland" (Press release). Scottish Ambulance Service. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ a b Mackay, Mark (18 March 2017). "Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance crew hailed as nation's rural heroes". The Courier. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ^ "Charity Details: Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance, SC041845". www.oscr.org.uk. Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
- ^ "Perth base for Scotland's charity air ambulance". BBC News. BBC. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ^ "'Busy' first month for Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance". BBC News. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ^ "Scotland's charity air ambulance alters operating hours to meet demands". BBC News. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ^ a b "Charity air ambulance hailed as helicopter flies 200th mission". STV News. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ^ "Round the world in 80 days flight takes off from Perth". BBC News. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ^ Burdge, Richard (13 February 2015). "Blue Light display to mark Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance milestone". The Courier. D. C. Thomson & Co. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ "Libor fines pay for charity air ambulance". BBC News. BBC. 18 March 2015.
- ^ "New helicopter unveiled for Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance". STV News. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ MacPhee, Catriona (29 March 2016). "Charity air ambulance saves hillwalker in 1000th call-out". STV News. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ^ "Second helicopter plan for Scotland's Air Ambulance Charity". BBC News. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
- ^ "Aberdeen base for second Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance helicopter". BBC News. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ "Air ambulance helicopter contract signed for Aberdeen service". BBC News. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)