The region’s air ambulance is celebrating 20 years of providing its service in Cumbria today.
On 7 August 2004, the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) unveiled the first air ambulance to be based in Cumbria, which was affectionately called the ‘Pride of Cumbria’.
At the time of the launch, this aircraft covered five days a week, and the charity’s other helicopters based in Blyth, Northumberland and Teesside, were on duty seven days a week and covered the two days the Cumbria helicopter did not fly.
The charity has since progressed to being operational 365 days a year across the region, and proudly kept the same name for all of their Cumbrian aircraft.
Their latest helicopter called the Pride of Cumbria II is a Dauphin N3, which is based in Langwathby, Penrith and began work at the end of May 2021.
Thanks to the high performance of the new aircraft, during its first weekend of operation, the charity’s critical care team was able to travel to three consecutive incidents in Cumbria, Scotland and Northumberland before needing to refuel, something its predecessor would not have been able to manage, meaning vital minutes were saved.
During the same weekend the charity also launched their night-time rapid response vehicle service in Cumbria to cover Friday and Saturday, from 8pm to 8am, when the air ambulance does not fly.
The car carries the same life-saving equipment as its airborne counterpart and is staffed by a highly skilled paramedic and doctor team who can deliver blood, anaesthetic procedures, and other advanced treatments to critically ill or injured patients.
The charity has been working hard to fund the additional nights, and have since expanded to cover Thursday and Sunday, with the hopes of becoming a 24/7 service in Cumbria later this year.
Lee Salmon, from Penrith, has witnessed the progression of the charity after first working as a paramedic for GNAAS from 2005 – 2008 before pursuing a managerial role and working as an assistant operations manager for the NHS.
He returned to GNAAS in 2017 and is now the head of operations for Cumbria and the Isle of Man, where he ensures that world-class critical care and emergency transfers are delivered swiftly to patients in need.
He said: “Over the years I’ve seen a lot of changes in the charity. We’ve switched from a very basic small aircraft to a larger modern aircraft, and progressed from being a simple air ambulance transporting patients to having highly skilled doctors and paramedics on board who effectively bring the hospital to the patient.
“Due to the continued expansion of our service, in 2023 our critical care team experienced their busiest year on record after being deployed more than 2,200 times to incidents across the region, including 603 in Cumbria.
“We know that our service isn’t something that people want to use, but every business, resident and visitor to Cumbria can be reassured that our team will be there in their time of need.”
GNAAS has been registered as a charity since 2002 and does not receive government funding. They need to raise approximately £8.5m a year to remain operational and continue helping critically ill or injured people across the North East, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and the Isle of Man.
Mr Salmon added: “We are incredibly appreciative of the support we have received from the public over the years. Whether that’s by taking part in sponsored challenges, buying tickets for our raffle, or simply liking and sharing our posts on social media, it all helps.
“Hopefully with the public’s continued support we’ll be celebrating even more big anniversaries in the future.”
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