Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance

Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance
The AgustaWestland AW169 introduced in 2017
Abbreviation LNAACT
Motto Keep us flying
Formation April 1994
Legal status Non-profit company (02788157) and registered charity (1017501)
Purpose Helicopter airlift to hospital in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire
Location
  • LNAACT House, Bentley Drive, Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln, LN4 2QW and Unit 2 Chase Park, Daleside Road, Nottingham, NG2 4GT
Region served
Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire
Chief Executive
 Karen Jobling[1]
Main organ
 Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust
Affiliations Association of Air Ambulances
Budget
£1.8 million expenditure (2008-9) from an income of £2.6 million
Website Ambucopter

The Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire 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. It is one of eighteen such services in England and Wales.

Normally flying within the hours of 7AM to 7PM, in early 2018 the Trust announced an intention to provide 24-hour cover from an undisclosed point in the summer of 2018.[2]

History

A group of consultants at the Pilgrim Hospital proposed a helicopter service to ferry seriously ill patients to specialist units at other hospitals, avoiding the lengthy transfer times associated with Lincolnshire's road system.

The Lincolnshire Air Ambulance was formed at RAF Waddington in April 1994. Due to the proximity of Waddington to Nottinghamshire, it was soon extended to Nottinghamshire in 1997.

The charitable trust was formed on 9 February 1993. Peter Aldrick, the Chief Executive, became the first Chairman of the Association of Air Ambulances.

Operational service

Its management has close co-operation (although not financial) with the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), who request assistance if a patient requires urgent medical treatment and transfer to a hospital Emergency Department.

Other air ambulances in the Midlands are straddled over several counties; Lincolnshire is the largest administrative county in central England, and the air ambulance is particularly beneficial given the width and undulating character of the Fen roads across the east of the county. More-seriously injured patients are normally ferried to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham rather than Boston, Grantham, Lincoln or Scunthorpe.

In November 2013 the service became the first in the UK to complete a first full night mission, responding to the scene and delivering the casualty to hospital in the hours of darkness with a single pilot. Night missions had been completed by other Air Ambulances in the UK, but the Lincs and Notts service is the first and only one to have trained all its Paramedic aircrew in the use of Night Vision Goggles. In doing so this alleviates the need for costly two 2 pilot operations, expanding the skill set of the Paramedic Aircrew.

In the July 2015 the operational crew moved into a new purpose designed building at RAF Waddington, moving from the old V-Bomber standby building the crew had used since 1994. The new building provides much more space and comes complete with a training and meeting room, ops room, crew room and several other needed improvements.

The helicopter is fully night equipped including a state of the art search light.

Structure

The main office is in Bracebridge Heath, south of Lincoln, close to the helicopter base. It has a satellite office in Nottingham on the A612 near Nottingham Racecourse.

It has charity shops in Grantham, Grimsby, Market Rasen, North Hykeham, Spalding, and Mansfield Woodhouse.

Fleet

In November 2010 the service took delivery of a new MD902 Explorer, capable of flying for longer, faster and fully equipped for night operations. The aircraft retains the yellow colour scheme worn by its predecessor, but has the registration of G-LNCT, after the Charitable Trust.[3]

G-LNAA, the helicopter operated by the service between 2000 and 2010, was returned to Specialist Aviation Services at Staverton (Gloucestershire Airport), where it was overhauled before being used as the fleet-spare for their medical operations.[4]

The original helicopter used was a MBB Bo 105, G-PASC, in service between 1994 and 2000.

In October 2015 the charity announced that it had ordered an AgustaWestland AW169 aircraft to replace their current MD902.[5] The news AW169 was formally accepted by the charity in July 2016[6], registered G-LNAC and is now operational as one of three AW169s operating an Air Ambulance service in the UK.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ambucopter, About us: Our Staff Retrieved 31 January 2018
  2. ↑ Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance is set to provide 24 hour care Nottingham Post, 19 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018
  3. ↑ BBC News England October 2010 Retrieved 2014-06-25
  4. ↑ Specialist Aviation Services Retrieved 2014-06-25
  5. ↑ "New air ambulance for Lincolnshire to arrive next year". Grimsby Telegraph. 2015-10-12. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  6. ↑ "Arrival of our new AW169 Ambucopter moves closer after official handover in Italy - Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance". Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance. 2016-07-05. Retrieved 2017-05-20.

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