Midlands Air Ambulance in action

Nuneaton based Air Cadets recently had a unique chance to see the helicopters of the Midlands Air Ambulance in operation when they visited their base at RAF Cosford.

The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity runs three state-of-the-art Eurocopter EC135 helicopters, covering an area of over 5,000 square miles and a population of approximately 5.5 million people.

During the visit Flt Lt Paul Hincks of 121 Nuneaton Squadron said, “We must have all seen these air ambulances and their crews in action on the television and some of us may even know someone who will have needed their help, but until today I had never realised just how busy they are. We spent a whole day with 633 VGS at Cosford and the two Midlands Air Ambulances we saw were constantly in action. No sooner had one of them landed and they were back in the air on another vital life saving mission.”

The Midlands Air Ambulance is the only Charity responsible for funding and operating these three Air Ambulances serving the communities of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire , Staffordshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands . This constitutes the largest air ambulance operating region in the UK .

For those of us who live in Coventry, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire we're covered by the WNAA (Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance), which provides Helicopter Emergency Medical Service to a primary response area of 2000 square miles of Coventry, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes and some of the key border areas like Market Harborough, Banbury and Solihull. They also have a mutual agreement with the areas covered by the Midlands Air Ambulance if required.

Neither the Midlands or Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance receive any funding from the government or the National Lottery to keep their services flying. They rely entirely on voluntary donations from local companies, organisations and communities. Therefore our help is vital for them to be able to continue to service our communities and save lives.

To find out more about the Midlands or Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance services, or make a donation, no matter how small, please visit their websites.

• Midlands Air Ambulance
• Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance

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