North West Air Ambulance Charity

North West Air Ambulance Charity is a charity air ambulance service for North West England. Its bases are at Blackpool and Barton. It flies helicopters and drives critical care cars to bring hospital level care to patients.

Services

The crews give emergency care at the scene and move patients between hospitals. The charity describes its purpose as flying a skilled medical crew and equipment to patients when and where they need it most. It works every day of the year. The site says it has been called to over 45,000 missions since it launched in 1999.

Aircraft and vehicles

The charity has three EC135 helicopters. Each crew has three people: one pilot, and either one doctor and a critical care paramedic or two critical care paramedics. Each aircraft carries one patient on a stretcher. There is space for a small passenger, such as a parent with a child. The site says the cruising speed is about 158 mph and most of the North West can be reached in up to 25 minutes.

Four critical care vehicles are based at the Barton and Blackpool airbases. They are used for nearby incidents, city centres and times when the helicopters cannot fly. A night car runs seven days a week from 6pm to 2am, with a consultant level doctor and a critical care paramedic.

Coverage area

The service covers the whole North West, about 5,500 square miles and over 8 million people.

Facts

• Type: charity air ambulance
• Bases: Blackpool and Barton
• Aircraft: three EC135 helicopters
• Funding: the site says it gets no government or NHS funding