The Darlington community has rallied together to support the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) after the charity responded to several incidents in their town.
On Friday 12 January, our critical care team, which includes a pilot, doctor and paramedic, responded to two separate medical incidents in Darlington.
Flying from our base near Eaglescliffe, it took them approximately six minutes to land on scene and provide advanced critical care to the patients.
The team worked alongside the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) to help stabilise the patients and they were taken to hospital by the NEAS road crew, but were also accompanied by our team.
The following day, the team on shift at GNAAS responded to another medical incident in Darlington and worked alongside NEAS to assess and treat a patient, before accompanying them on their journey to hospital.
In response to the three incidents attended by GNAAS over only two days, a member of the public posted in the ‘You know you’re from Darlo when’ Facebook group on Saturday evening, suggesting its members donate to GNAAS.
The post said: “The Great North Air Ambulance Service has landed at least three times in Darlington in the last two days to help people in our town. Just a thought…. This group has 39k members. Imagine how much money we could raise with just 50p each (plus gift aid where able)? Was thinking it might be a good idea to raise some money for them from our group? You never know when one of us might need them.”
The post has been shared 23 times on Facebook and received 150 comments which include people either offering to donate or declaring they have sent a donation.
As of Monday 15 January, approximately £637 has been raised from residents in Darlington, with several people sending kind messages to our charity along with their donation.
Gordon Ingram, head of operations – North East at GNAAS, said: “Our critical care team based in the North East recently responded to three incidents in Darlington in just two days. Sadly, they were not all positive outcomes, and our thoughts are with those who have been affected.
“It’s incredibly humbling to hear about the community in Darlington coming together to help support our charity, and we have nothing but sincere gratitude for everyone who has donated.
“It currently costs £8.5m a year for our service to remain operational, and because we’re a charity, this means we do not receive government funding and rely on the generosity of the public to either donate or fundraise on our behalf.
“The money recently raised by those who saw the post in the Darlington Facebook group, will help our team continue to respond to the most critically ill or injured people across the region.”
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