This past Thursday, Cornwall Air Ambulance have recorded their 22,000th mission in their 23 years of operation, airlifting a 30 year old woman from Penzance to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.

Cornwall Air Ambulance flies a Eurocopter EC135T2 covering a county of nearly 1,400 square miles and a population approaching 550,000. Jutting out to the south-west corner of England, it also has a coastline of almost 300 miles, the County of Cornwall lends itself to a service of this kind. Its population of nearly 550,000 is widely scattered with many remote and isolated communities, and in the summer months, the road networks become congested very easily by a huge influx of tourists seeking what many regard as the most reliable sushine in the United Kingtom. A good proportion of visitors participate in water sports and extreme sports, a vital part of our tourism and leisure economy, but which also increases the incidence and severity of accidents.

Plans are being worked on to add a second helicopter, and upgrades to their operational base could see a new hangar being built on the boundary of Newquay Cornwall Airport to house a pair of EC135s. The current aircraft flies over 600 hours a year, and can reach any part of the county from its base within 20 minutes, and the Isles of Scilly in 28 minutes. On average it arrives on scene within 12 minutes of an emergency call.