The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) is an
air ambulance
Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...
providing Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) across the English counties of
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
and
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
. The appeal to fund the service was launched in the summer of 2000 by top jockey
Frankie Dettori
Lanfranco Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), better known as Frankie Dettori, is an Italian horse racing jockey based in the United Kingdom. Dettori has been British flat racing Champion Jockey three times and has ...
, who had been a casualty in a serious plane crash a couple of months earlier. When flying commenced in January 2001, the service was initially available only one day a week. The East Anglian Air Ambulance now operates two helicopters, 365 days a year, from its bases at
Cambridge Airport
Cambridge City Airport , previously Marshall Airport Cambridge UK, is a regional airport in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the eastern outskirts of Cambridge, south of Newmarket Road and west of the village of Teversham, from the ...
and
Norwich Airport
Norwich Airport is an international airport in Hellesdon, Norfolk, England, north of Norwich. In 2017, Norwich Airport was the 28th busiest airport in the UK and busiest in the East Anglia region.
Norwich Airport has a CAA Public Use Aero ...
, covering over and a population of approximately 3.5 million.
Mission
EAAA's mission statement is: "To alleviate suffering and save lives, by the rapid delivery of specialist clinicians and equipment to accidents and medical emergencies and the subsequent transfer of patients to and between hospitals".
The charity provides air ambulance cover for East Anglia, in association with
East of England Ambulance Service
The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) is an NHS trust responsible for providing National Health Service (NHS) ambulance services in the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, in the ...
NHS Trust, which provides highly skilled critical care
paramedic
A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research.
Not all ambulance personnel are p ...
s who fly with the charity. Doctors are seconded from their home NHS trusts.
Aircraft
Since April 2015 at Cambridge and February 2016 at Norwich,
EAAA have operated
Airbus H145 helicopters. The introduction of the H145 provides EAAA with a helicopter that is capable of carrying two flight crew, three clinicians and a patient, with increased cabin space and performance. Anglia One, G-RESU, covers
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
and
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
and is based at
Norwich Airport
Norwich Airport is an international airport in Hellesdon, Norfolk, England, north of Norwich. In 2017, Norwich Airport was the 28th busiest airport in the UK and busiest in the East Anglia region.
Norwich Airport has a CAA Public Use Aero ...
.
Anglia Two, G-HEMC, which was the first H145 to operate in the United Kingdom,
covers
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
and
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
and is based at
Cambridge Airport
Cambridge City Airport , previously Marshall Airport Cambridge UK, is a regional airport in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the eastern outskirts of Cambridge, south of Newmarket Road and west of the village of Teversham, from the ...
.
Both helicopters, their pilots and engineers are provided by
Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore
Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore, formerly Bond Air Services (Bond Aviation Group), is an operator of air ambulance, police, and offshore windfarm helicopters in the UK. Babcock operates a mixed fleet of light twin-engine helicopters cu ...
,
formerly known as Bond Air Services.
EAAA's first aircraft was a
Bolkow 105, commissioned from Sterling Aviation. The aircraft was based at
Norwich Airport
Norwich Airport is an international airport in Hellesdon, Norfolk, England, north of Norwich. In 2017, Norwich Airport was the 28th busiest airport in the UK and busiest in the East Anglia region.
Norwich Airport has a CAA Public Use Aero ...
and had the call sign 'Anglia One'.
In June 2006, a new helicopter, a
MBB/Kawasaki BK 117
The MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 is a twin-engined medium Utility helicopter, utility–transport helicopter. It was jointly developed and manufactured by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) of Germany and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki of Japan. MBB ...
, G-OEMT, was commissioned from Sterling Aviation. The aircraft replaced the Bolkow 105, G-EYNL, and went into service as Anglia One. In August 2007 and second MBB/Kawasaki BK 117, G-RESC, went into service as Anglia Two.
In March 2011, EAAA changed operator and moved from Sterling Aviation to interim supplier, Bond Air Services. Bond later successfully tendered for the contract to operate both helicopters. During the interim period EAAA flew red aircraft but soon returned to their more familiar yellow livery with the introduction of the
Eurocopter EC135
The Eurocopter EC135 (now Airbus Helicopters H135) is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters (formerly known as Eurocopter). It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted with ...
.
In 2012, EAAA commissioned the fully night-capable EC135 T2e and commenced the
CAA
CAA may refer to:
Law
* Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India
** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act
* Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...
approval process to begin the night HEMS service.
Operations
When the service was first launched, Anglia One operated for only one day a week. This was soon expanded to five days a week and later to the current service of seven days a week.
Anglia Two was launched in August 2007 and began operating five days a week (from Sunday to Thursday). The service provided by Anglia Two was extended to seven days a week in 2008. It was manned by the Emergency Medical Team from
Magpas Helimedix 24/7, based at
RAF Wyton
Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now home to the Joint Forces Intelligence Group.
History Flying station
Wyton has be ...
until its move to Cambridge Airport where the charity decided to use its own medical personnel - predominantly doctors specialising in
emergency medicine
Emergency medicine is the medical speciality concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (often called “ER doctors” in the United States) continuously learn to care for unsche ...
,
anaesthesia
Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), am ...
and/or
intensive care medicine
Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes pro ...
from hospitals within the region.
![G-HEMC EAAA EC145T2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/G-HEMC_EAAA_EC145T2.jpg)
Typical incidents for which the assistance of the air ambulance is requested include road traffic collisions, horse riding accidents, cardiac arrests and serious falls. The EAAA team of highly skilled doctors and critical care paramedics also treat many people injured in agricultural, industrial and sporting accidents as well as medical emergencies.
Airlifted patients are most likely to go to the major trauma centre at
Addenbrooke's Hospital
Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campu ...
in Cambridge, the specialist burns unit in
Broomfield Hospital
Broomfield Hospital is an acute district general hospital in Chelmsford, Essex. It is managed by the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital, originally known as Essex County Hospital, was designed as a hospital for the t ...
, Chelmsford or the specialist heart attack centre at
Norfolk and Norwich Hospital
The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital stood on a site in St Stephen's Road, Norwich, Norfolk, England. Founded in 1771, it closed in 2003 after its services had been transferred to the new Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. Many of the buildings ...
. Patients less severely injured, but where travel would take an excessive amount of time, may be airlifted to their local A&E with trauma unit.
In May 2013, EAAA received approval to fly night time HEMS missions. The first team was available and ready to fly on 24 May and was called that night to a traffic collision in Essex. The clinicians were flown to the scene where they treated an injured motorcyclist with the aid of night vision equipment. The patient was then flown back to Cambridge where he was taken to the major trauma centre at Addenbrooke's Hospital.
In 2018, the charity appeared on the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
TV programme ''
Emergency Helicopter Medics
An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
'', which follows the crews responding and treating emergency patients.
Aircrew
For the majority of call-outs Anglia One and Two will carry a crew of four; one pilot, one co-pilot, one critical-care paramedic and one doctor.
The EAAA crew with their expertise and training are able to 'take the hospital emergency room to the patient'. The speed in which EAAA helicopters can get the medics to people suffering a medical emergency or accident is critical in ensuring a good recovery for the patient. EAAA can provide at the scene of the incident just about all the procedures that would be expected in a hospital. For that reason, once the EAAA doctor and paramedic crew have treated the patient, it is often safe for them to then travel on to the hospital by road for further treatment. EAAA fly approximately a third of their patients and this is either because of the critical nature of their condition or the remoteness of the incident.
Control decision
The EAAA control centre is located in
Chelmsford
Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...
and is staffed twenty four hours a day, every day of the year by an East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust dispatcher and a critical care paramedic. They know what to look for in an emergency call and can ensure that the helicopter is mobilised when its life saving services are required. The decision is made by the doctor at the scene of the incident as to whether the patient should go by land ambulance, or be flown to hospital on the air ambulance.
Finances
The East Anglian Air Ambulance is a charitable service and does not normally receive direct funding from the government. In the year ending June 2021, the charity's income was £14.2million, including £57,000 from government grants.
Its expenditure was £13.2M, of which £10.4M was spent on operating the air ambulance service.
The charity's funding comes from public donations and fundraising activities, including the purchase of weekly lottery tickets, corporate donations and legacy giving.
Facts and figures
* East Anglian Air Ambulance has attended over 22,000 life saving missions since the charity's first aircraft was launched in 2000
* The average cost of each mission flown as of 20142015 financial accounts is £3,500
* The normal cruising speed for an EAAA helicopter is and they can reach anywhere in the region within 25 minutes
*
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales.
Born in London, William was educat ...
trained as a civilian helicopter pilot in late 2014,
so that he could work as a pilot with East Anglian Air Ambulance from 2015 to 2017. His salary was donated to charity.
Pre-hospital care network in the East of England
This charity is one of many pre-hospital care providers in the East, which has an established trauma network – the first to be fully operational in the UK.
Other pre-hospital care providers that they work and train alongside are:
*BASICS Essex Accident Rescue Service (BEARS)
*BASICS Hertfordshire
*
Suffolk Accident Rescue Service (SARS)
*
Essex & Herts Air Ambulance
Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust (EHAAT) is a charity air ambulance service providing a free, life-saving Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) for the critically ill and injured of Essex, Hertfordshire and surrounding areas.
The c ...
*
Magpas Air Ambulance
The East of England teams commonly end up working alongside crews from
Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance
The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance is an air ambulance based at RAF Waddington which covers the administrative counties of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire and the unitary authorities of Nottingham, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire, ...
,
London's Air Ambulance
London's Air Ambulance Charity is a registered charity that operates a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) dedicated to responding to serious trauma emergencies in and around London. Using a helicopter from 08:00 to sunset and rapid res ...
and
The Air Ambulance Service
The Air Ambulance Service (TAAS) is a registered charity in the UK that runs two emergency air ambulances, the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) and the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA), and also op ...
, along with other
BASICS charities.
See also
*
Air ambulances in the United Kingdom
Air ambulance services in the United Kingdom provide emergency medical functions, patient transport between specialist centres, or medical repatriation. Services are provided by a mixture of organisations, operating either helicopters or fixed ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Air ambulances in the United Kingdom
Air ambulance services in England