Island Life Magazine Ltd February / March 2016 | Page 34

INTERVIEW

Helimed -

the lowdown
1. It costs HIOWAA a staggering £7,500
every day to keep the Air Ambulance
flying, and they couldn’t do it without
lots of generous local donations and
fundraising efforts.
2. Most call-outs are to road traffic
accidents (34%), followed by cardiac
arrest and collapse (25%), sports
injuries and falls (18%), horse riding
(16%) and industrial accident (4%).
3. The new H135 rescue helicopter can
land in an area the size of a tennis
court, and be anywhere in Hampshire
in 15 minutes, or the Isle of Wight in
20 minutes.
4. Having the Air Ambulance available
to the Island frees up the Coastguard
helicopter, which was previously the
only option for airlifting the sick and
injured.
5. There is a critical national shortage of
paramedics, with numbers down by
30%. Alex Lochrane hopes the 999
Superheroes campaign may even
inspire youngsters to consider this
tough but rewarding job as a career.
6. Since its launch in 2007, HIOWAA has
flown a total of 6,225 missions, and by
the end of the first month of 2016 it
had already flown 26.
7. The air ambulance is airborne within
four minutes and flies at 140mph. A
typical mission lasts about 90 minutes.
8. There are helipads at Southampton
General, Portsmouth QA, Salisbury,
Bournemouth, Basingstoke hospitals
as well as St Mary’s on the Island.
9. The Air Ambulance is crewed by pilots,
paramedics and doctors who are all
trained in advanced pre-hospital care,
effectively bringing the emergency
department to the patient.
10. HIOWAA has a head office in
Southampton, but it’s helicopter
is based at Thruxton Airfield near
Andover.
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ill patients or falls victims to
specialist hospitals on the
mainland.
“People living around Newport
will know Helimed very well”
says Alex “as it’s in and out of
there, if not once a day, then at
least 2-3 times a week”.
HIOWAA prides itself on
the close links it has with
the communities it serves –
and nowhere more so than
on the Island, which has a
dedicated band of around a
dozen volunteers led by Pat
Knight. These stalwarts back

the charity’s work here by
giving talks, taking stands at
shows, and doing all-important
fundraising.
“Because the Island is just that
bit further away, it’s great that
we have such a self-sufficient
band of volunteers operating
there” says Alex.
Indeed, many people are
still surprised to learn that the
HIOWAA receives no funding
whatsoever from government,
statutory bodies or the
National Lottery for its routine
operations – relying totally on