Heroes in the skies: Meet the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance team saving lives this Christmas and New Year

To mark the festive season, the Dorset Echo has been out and about with the people who keep us safe all year long – including on Christmas Day.

Today reporter Rachel Stretton goes behind the scenes with the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

A PHONE call is all it takes to change the mood.

The crew go from sitting round a table, laughing, and switch to professional mode. Critical care paramedic Mark Williams gets as much information from the call handler as he can, while pilot Phil Merritt gets the helicopter engine going.

Doctor Farhad ‘Izzy’ Islam checks the kit and trainee critical care paramedic Steve Westbrook consults the map on the wall – which has a simple mechanism to tell exactly how far away the job is and how long it will take to get there.

They don’t run – it’s important they don’t fall and injure themselves – but walk calmly and quickly towards the waiting helicopter.

Outside the blades are whirring and there’s a strong smell of petrol in the winter air. The yellow air ambulance rises and moves forward, becoming a speck in the distance. They’re gone.

The transformation takes just minutes – these are people used to springing into action and, despite the best efforts of the call handlers to get as much information to the crew as possible, there are times when there’s no telling exactly what they’re going into.

The air ambulance is called most often to help in remote locations or when a patient has suffered major trauma.

They’re usually not the first emergency service on scene, but their unique selling point is bringing the best of the district’s hospitals right to the patient, at the roadside or coastal path, and then taking them to the hospital which specialises in whatever injury they have suffered – as far away as Swansea if necessary. 

Just minutes before we’d been sat around a table, enjoying a cup of tea and talking about their work. 

The air ambulance is based at a hangar on Henstridge Airfield, not far from Sherborne on the Dorset/Somerset border.

The teams work 12-hour shifts – 7am to 7pm – and are called out an average of three or four times a day, though this can rise to as many as seven or eight call-outs in summer.

In between there’s a kitchen in the building so the team can eat, as well as beds, but many of the team are studying for further qualifications, so spend the time at their books.

The doctors work one day a week with the air ambulance, and Izzy said staff are drawn from across the area’s hospitals to bring the best expertise.

For the paramedics, there’s understandably tough competition. Steve was one of 60 applicants for just a handful of trainee places.

“I always wanted to join the air ambulance but I never felt ready before now. Then in the last applications I was successful and went through a rigorous selection process.”

That process involves four assessments - three clinical and one in leadership – physical and written tests, a presentation and a formal interview.

For the team, it’s also about finding the right personality.

“If you get the wrong person it can disrupt the whole ethos of the team,” said Izzy. “It’s so important to find someone who has the same values.”

There is one control system for all five air ambulances from across the region, based at the South West Ambulance Service Trust control room in Exeter. They identify which jobs the air ambulance are best deployed to, and phone the relevant service.

While all efforts are made to ensure the team knows as much as possible before landing, there are often unknowns. The pilots land as close as possible, but sometimes there is still a considerable distance to travel.

“We can stop people to ask for a lift,” said Mark. “No one has ever said no.”

Izzy added: “The pilots are great at getting us as close as they safely can. After that it’s a balance. Are you going to run there carrying 20kg on your back? You don’t want to arrive completely out of breath, or have an accident yourself.”

On scene, the crew bring a whole range of equipment and drugs to the patient.

Izzy said: “What we offer is not something a normal land ambulance can give. We have a whole host of drugs, we can anaesthetise the patient and carry out surgical procedures if needed. We can give blood if the patient is critically unwell, if the patient is in cardiac arrest we have machines to cope with that. We have got the very latest in kit.”

Despite their swift and often lifesaving actions, there are times when the crew leave a patient in the care of a hospital and never find out what happened to them.

“It is nice knowing if we made a difference,” said Steve. “Izzy and I went out to a lad who had rolled his car through a wooden fence. There was a piece of wood that had gone into his leg and come out the other side.

“He was conscious and ha got himself out of the car but we had to cut off part of the wood to get him into the helicopter. We took him to Southampton Hospital and handed him over. The following day we were on duty again and were back at Southampton, so thought we’d go and see how he was doing.”

The man was recovering well, and welcomed the visit from the crew. He had even asked hospital staff to push his bed closer to the window, where he could see the helipad and the air ambulance that saved his life.

Mark added: “It doesn’t often happen like that, that we get to find out how people are. I love the fact that in my job I get to fly in a helicopter, and help at these sort of incidents.

“But those times when we know we have made a difference, that’s what makes it incredible.”

Call-outs cost £2,500 a time - but here's how you can help

THE Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is a registered charity and has to raise around £2m every year to pay for its operations, which cost around £2,500 per call-out.

The cost is expected to rise in 2017 as the team takes on a new helicopter, with night flying capabilities. The hours of operation will be extended to run from 7am to 2pm.

Communications manager Tracy Bartram said the charity employs 14 full-time staff, but there are 130 regular volunteers based across the two counties.

The weekly Flight for Life lottery provides a regular income, and the charity also runs the Coast to Coast cycle every year from Watchet to West Bay. The event last year raised £70,000.
The rest of the cash needed to run the air ambulance comes from fundraisers – many who have experienced first-hand how vital the service is.

Tracy added: “We are always looking for more volunteers and fundraisers from the Dorset area.”

Anyone who would like to find out more can call 01823 669604, email info@dsairambulance.org.uk or visit www.dsairambulance.org.uk