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Air ambulance charity close to busiest year for call-outs

BBC Green and blue Great Western Air Ambulance waiting for lift off BBC
The Great Western Air Ambulance charity uses a helicopter and three emergency cars

An air ambulance charity is on track for its busiest year on record.

The Almondsbury-based Great Western Air Ambulance charity saw a 21% rise in calls in the first six months of this year.

By the end of 2024 it is expecting to have been called out more than 2,200 times, compared to 2,001 in 2023.

The charity is also raising awareness of life-saving CPR skills as part of the Restart a Heart campaign.

Restart a Heart Day is an annual initiative led by Resuscitation Council UK which aims to increase the number of people surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrests by helping more people learn CPR.

Tim Ross-Smith, the charity's operations officer, said there has been "a notable increase in demand" for its services.

Tim Ross-Smith looking at the camera, half-smiling, in an orange and navy jacket, stood with a helicopter behind him on a helipad
Mr Ross-Smith said the charity is dealing with its busiest year yet

"It's up by around 21% and we're going out, on average, to six patients during our op hours every day of the week - and that's 365 days a year.

"Demand generally across the NHS has gone up and we're getting a lot more requests from land ambulance crews for assistance."

Forrest Wheeler collapsed during his first ever parkrun event in Cheltenham in 2017, after suffering a cardiac arrest.

A cardiac arrest is when your heart suddenly stops pumping blood around your body.

The lack of blood flow to the brain and other organs can cause a person to lose consciousness, become disabled or die if not treated immediately.

Forrest Wheeler smiles at the camera at the Great Western Ambulance Charity, he is wearing a white and blue checked shirt with a navy gilet.
Forrest Wheeler collapsed during a parkrun and was saved by CPR and a defibrillator

He was given CPR and a shock from a defibrillator before the air ambulance crew arrived and said those vital minutes saved his life.

"My heart stopped. Fortunately there was a lot of NHS people at the parkrun," Mr Wheeler explained.

"They started CPR immediately and that probably saved my life."

Mr Wheeler now volunteers for the charity.

"GWACC run a fabulous programme called Heart Starters where we go into schools and support children by teaching them how to use a defibrillator," he added.

Ann Carter suffered a cardiac arrest at home
Ann Carter's life was saved by her postman and daughter and she has now learned CPR with the air ambulance charity to help others

Ann Carter also suffered a cardiac arrest while at home in Stoke Orchard after her postman, Shane, said she didn't look herself.

"Shane and my daughter between them did CPR and I only found out recently they carried on going when they both thought I was dead, I had no pulse," she said.

"A month after my cardiac arrest I went to an event led by GWAAC and learned CPR that day, because I thought I'm hopefully going to pay it back."

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