Children's Air Ambulance
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The Children's Air Ambulance (TCAA) is a charity-funded
air ambulance Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation an ...
service that transfers critically ill children from local hospitals to specialist paediatric centres throughout Great Britain. It also moves specialist teams and equipment to local hospitals when a child is too sick to travel. The service also sometimes acts as a patient transport service, returning children and families home after treatment. It was founded in 2005, and has been operated by The Air Ambulance Service charity since 2011. More than 400 missions have been performed since the service began. The number of missions is anticipated to rise to more than 600 per year with the launch of the new helicopters.


Operations

TCAA operates two helicopters from
Oxford Airport London Oxford Airport , formerly known as Kidlington Airport, is a privately owned airport located near Kidlington in Cherwell (district), Cherwell District, Oxfordshire, northwest by north of Oxford, from Central London. Despite its name th ...
and Gamston Airport. The airdesk which coordinates the service remains centrally based at Coventry Airport in the same office as Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance. The Children's Air Ambulance can reach anywhere in the UK within two hours and reach all of the UK's specialist children's units within 70 minutes. Children and clinical teams are moved using AgustaWestland AW169 helicopters, which were leased by the charity in 2017. The helicopters always fly with two pilots and, when transporting a child, generally carry between one and three
NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
clinicians, including at least one senior nurse and often a consultant. The new helicopters have an extra seat which can be used for either a parent to accompany their child or an additional member of clinical staff. TCAA is registered with the
Care Quality Commission The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care providers in England. It ...
.


Equipment

Children are transported in a bespoke stretcher, nicknamed 'Shrek', which was designed and built in partnership with consultant paediatricians and transport nurses. No specialised stretcher for paediatric helicopter transfer existed at the time. The stretcher can carry a baby up to in a specialist ‘baby pod’, or facilitate larger babies and children on the stretcher mattress. Its design allows for the equipment needed for paediatric intensive care to be secure and easily operated, whether in flight or on the ground.


Clinical partners

TCAA has ten clinical partners which commission transfers: * The North West and North Wales Transport Service (NWTS) * East Midlands Children's Heart Care Association (ECMO) * The Children's Acute Transport Service (CATS) * The Southampton Oxford Retrieval Team (SORT) * Embrace * South Thames Retrieval Service (STRS) * Leicester PICU's transfer team * Wales & West Acute Transport for Children (WATCh) * Southwest Neonatal Advice and Retrieval team (SoNAR) * kids intensive care and decision support /Neonatal transfer service (Kids/NTS)


History

TCAA was founded in 2005. It raised funds over a five-year period, but did not own, lease or provide an air ambulance service. Following an investigation by the
Charity Commission The Charity Commission for England and Wales is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's Government that regulates registered charities in England and Wales and maintains the Central Register of Charities. Its counterparts in Scotland and ...
into a range of complaints from the public, the charity was taken over by The Air Ambulance Service in 2011. At the time, The Air Ambulance Service operated the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance and the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance. Under the management of The Air Ambulance Service, which had no connection in any way with the original charity, TCAA flew its first team transfer in December 2012, and its first baby in May 2013. In September 2018, TCAA launched its two new AgustaWestland AW169 helicopters which are based at Oxford Airport and
Doncaster Sheffield Airport Doncaster Sheffield Airport , formerly named and commonly referred to as Robin Hood Airport, was an international airport in Finningley near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, in operation between 2005 and 2022. The site lies south-east ...
. The new helicopters are significantly larger and higher specification than the previous aircraft featuring bespoke clinical equipment and an additional seat for a parent to accompany the patient and crew on transfers.


Ambassadors

TCAA has a number of ambassadors supporting its work, including: * Melaine Walcott * David Gold, Head of Public Affairs at Royal Mail Group *
Anita Dobson Anita, Lady May (born 29 April 1949), known as Anita Dobson, is an English actress and singer. She is best known for playing Landlord, landlady Angie Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' from the show's inception in 1985 until 1988. She ac ...
* Grace Woodward * Stanley Fink, Baron Fink *
Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...
* Katie Marshall


Funding

Prior to being taken over by The Air Ambulance Service, the funding figures for the previous charity were as follows. In 2006 it raised £46,865 and spent £47,246, in 2007 it raised £19,466 and spent £2,265, in 2008 it raised £371 and spent £0, in 2009 it raised £56,542 and spent £52,232, in 2010 it raised £608,910 and spend £424,514, in 2011 it raised £563,189 and spent £488,659. In 2011 of the £488,659 spent, £427,600 was spent on governing and income generation, £61,000 was spent on charity purposes and £74,500 was retained. TCAA and The Air Ambulance Service receive no government funding and are entirely supported by public and corporate donations. The Air Ambulance Service charity raised £11.2million in 2013.


Shops

TCAA opened its first shop in 2012 in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire and now has twenty across the UK which are concentrated in and around London, the M40 corridor and the Midlands. The
Stow-on-the-Wold Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, on top of an 800-foot (244 m) hill at the junction of main roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429), which is of Roman ...
shop was shortlisted for the 'WOW! Factor Best Shop Interior Award' at the Charity Retail Awards 2018.


Criticisms

Prior to the launch of TCAA, both the NHS and other air ambulance charities questioned the need for the service and advised potential donors to avoid the project, fearing their own fundraising efforts would lose out. In 2011, the Charity Commission published their report of an investigation into TCAA. It found that the charity had previously spent large amounts of income on consultancy with a company owned by the founder of the charity. The Charity Commission had also received large number of complaints regarding literature distributed by the charity that did not mention that the charity did not operate, hire or have access to an air ambulance. Advice and guidance was given on both matters. Subsequently, the charity was taken over by TAAS, who have no connection to the previous management. In 2013, the head of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance was interviewed by the BBC and made a number of criticisms against TCAA, particularly surrounding fundraising. He highlighted that the name of the parent charity, The Air Ambulance Service was giving the impression to potential donors that they were representing all UK air ambulances, when in fact they only operate three of them.


See also

* Air ambulances in the United Kingdom *
Police aviation in the United Kingdom Police aviation in United Kingdom provides Law enforcement in the United Kingdom, British police forces with an aerial support unit to assist them in pursuit, surveillance and tracking. All police aviation in England and Wales comes under the Na ...


References


External links

* {{Air ambulances in the United Kingdom 2005 establishments in the United Kingdom Air ambulance services in the United Kingdom Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom