Air ambulance 'on a knife edge' after busy summer
GNAASAn air ambulance service has renewed calls for help to buy a new helicopter after attending more than 550 incidents during the summer.
The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) responded to 557 emergency call-outs from 21 June to the third week in September this year.
The charity has secured funding for two new aircraft and has appealed to the public to help raise funds for a third.
The charity's critical care teams, which are based in Eaglescliffe and Penrith, responded to 331 call-outs in the North East, 173 in Cumbria, 24 in Northumberland, 10 in the Isle of Man, eight in Scotland, seven in Yorkshire, and four in Lancashire.
Phil Lambert, chief pilot at GNAAS, said: "With only two helicopters we live on a knife-edge.
"If one is in maintenance and the other develops a fault we're grounded and that means we can't answer a 999 call by helicopter.
"A third aircraft changes everything. It gives us resilience and guarantees that when one is being serviced, two remain ready to fly."
GNAASThe summer is one of GNAAS busiest periods of the year, as the warmer months encourages more people to take part in outdoor activities such as hiking.
There is also a higher number of people travelling by car or motorcycle for holidays and day trips.
Cardiac arrests and road traffic collisions were the most common incidents responded to by the charity over the summer, followed by falls, medical incidents and assaults.
GNAAS has secured financing for two new Airbus H145 D2 helicopters and last year launched an appeal to raise £2.5m to secure the deposit for a third.
So far it has raised just over a third of the fundraising goal through public and business donations, but more than £1.5m is still needed before the end of 2026 to meet the campaign target.
