The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
The Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance is celebrating two huge landmarks.
The life-saving service has this month turned 25 years old and embarked on its 20,000th mission.
Since airlifting its very first patient on May 13, 1994, the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance service has provided a life-saving Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) for the local community.
To mark the charity’s silver anniversary, the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance hosted a celebratory event for special guests at the Fire and Rescue Training Ground in Waddington. The event was attended by charity ambassadors, clinical crew, trustees and former patients who have been helped by the service over the last 25 years.
The event started with a ‘mock mission’ on the day, where the life-saving crew demonstrated how they are able to bring the equivalent of a hospital A&E department directly to the scene of an incident.
As part of the mock mission, the on-board doctor and paramedics demonstrated how they would tend to patients suffering severe injuries as a result of a road traffic collision, and how these vital actions all contribute to the patient having the best possible outcome.
The event brought together 25 former patients, representing one for each year of the charity’s operation, who have been tended to since the service started flying in 1994.
As part of the celebratory event, the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance officially unveiled an eye-catching design across the tail of their Ambucopter to mark 25 years of saving lives. The iconic yellow helicopter tail now depicts 25 pair of hands – with each reflecting on the story of an incredible former patient whose life has been touched by the charity’s life-saving crew.
Karen Jobling, Chief Executive Officer at Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be celebrating our 25th year in service. Our remarkable charity has come a very long way since its humble beginnings in 1994, when we operated out of a portable building and could only fly when we had raised the money to do so.
Since then, the tremendous support of our local community has ensured that our Ambucopter remains on call and available to those in need 365 days a year.
“Today is not only about celebrating this huge milestone for the charity, but also gives us a chance to look back on how we have been able to make a positive impact on the lives of so many people over the last 25 years.
“We are incredibly grateful to the people and businesses of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire who have shown us such wonderful support. We receive no direct Government funding, meaning that we rely solely on the generosity of the public to ensure that our life-saving service continues.”
Throughout their 25th Anniversary year, the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance will be working towards providing a 24-hour service seven days a week, enabling them to give more people that ever before the very best chance of survival.
The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance receives no direct Government funding, meaning they rely solely on the support of the local community to raise the funds they need to keep their helicopter flying. Each potentially life-saving mission the crew are called out to costs approximately £2,500.
If you would like to find out how you can support the life-saving work of the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance
during their 25th year of service, visit www.ambucopter.org.uk
