London’s Air Ambulance, the Charity which runs London’s only air ambulance has today attended its 25,000th mission.  The service, which has been in operation for 23 years, also celebrates a year of being a 24hr operation next month, in April 2011, thanks to the continued support of its sponsors and the London community.

London’s Air Ambulance provides pre-hospital care to victims of serious injury throughout London – serving the 10 million people who live, work and commute within the M25.  The service carries a Senior Trauma Doctor and a specially trained Paramedic, essentially bringing the hospital to the patient.  In serious cases the patient may not always be able survive the distance to hospital so operations need to be performed on scene.

Last year London’s Air Ambulance attended 1979 incidents, including 185 children under the age of 16.   London’s Air Ambulance is a pioneer of open heart surgery at the roadside for chest stabbings and in 1993 carried out this procedure which resulted in one of the world’s first survivors.  The service is now experiencing a survival rate of 18% in patients who are clinically dead as a result of this type of injury.

The Charity, which operates both a helicopter and rapid response cars, relies heavily on public and corporate donations.  It has an international reputation as  one of the leading Air Ambulances with its medical and governance practices being adopted globally and to continue delivering life saving procedures it would like Londoners to support the Charity in anyway they can.  People can help by donating, joining the lottery, volunteering or participating in events.  Please visit www.londonsairambulance.com for more details.

Commenting on the service reaching this milestone, Dr. Gareth Davies, Medical Director and Chair of the Trustees, said:  “I have been part of London’s Air Ambulance for almost twenty years now and extremely proud of the team. London is a first class city and we have always strived to deliver first class care. 25,000 missions is a special milestone in our history.  Thanks to innovative treatments and procedures pioneered by the service we know there are patients continuing their lives that simply would not have survived anywhere else in the world. We look forward to the future and will continue to deliver the best possible care for Londoners and find new and innovative ways of saving lives. “The success of the service depends on many people and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the whole team, past and present, and importantly, the London Community for all its support.”

HeliHub.com editor note: This 25,000 figure is not purely helicopter operations.  We noted in this article that since inception in 1988, LAA had completed 24,733 missions (correct to 4th February), including 1,979 in the year 2010.  n the year to 31st March 2010, LAA treated 1,726 patients, 651 by helicopter and 1,075 by car. HeliHub.com has asked LAA to split the 25,000 figure out into missions by car and by helicopter, and we await their response.