Cornwall Air Ambulance

The Cornwall Air Ambulance is a dedicated helicopter emergency service for the English county of Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly). The helicopter flies about 1000 missions per year, and has flown over 20,000 missions in total. When introduced on 1 April 1987, Cornwall's air ambulance was the first dedicated helicopter emergency medical service operational in the United Kingdom. The helicopters provide a swift response and access to isolated locations, such as beaches, cliff-tops and moorland areas, which are inaccessible by road. The two Air Ambulances are maintained by the Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust.

The helicopters are based at a hangar at Newquay Cornwall Airport (EGHQ), near Newquay, which enables servicing and maintenance to be carried out overnight, which was impossible at the original open-air base at Treliske Hospital. The new base is also more centrally located, leading to quicker response times in many parts of the county. The helicopter can be airborne within two minutes of a 999 call and flies at 150 mph (240 km/h). It can cover the entire county in less than 20 minutes and reach the Isles of Scilly in 28 minutes. On average it takes 12 minutes from the time of the call to the scene of the incident.

Patients are taken to either Derriford Hospital, Plymouth or the Royal Cornwall Hospital (Treliske).

The Air Ambulance carries a crew of three: the pilot and two paramedics, or a paramedic and a doctor. To provide continuous cover, the service presently uses three pilots who are shared with Bond Air Services' Trinity House operation which, like the Air Ambulance, is based at RAF St Mawgan (Newquay airfield). The aircrew are selected from existing ambulance service personnel and specially trained for their work on the helicopter. There was originally a pool of twenty aircrew who worked on the Air Ambulance on a rotation basis. When they were not on helicopter duty, the crew would revert to their normal jobs on the road ambulances in the County. In 2006 the system was changed: now there are just 6 full-time aircrew to improve continuity.

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