Devon Air Ambulance has 'busiest year ever'

Medical emergency service the Devon Air Ambulance had its "busiest year ever" in 2021, attending more than 1,900 incidents in the county.

A total of 844 calls were to help patients suffering with a medical condition and more than 1,000 were to injuries caused by falls, burns and road collisions.

The service was also sent to calls in Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset.

The charity is funded by donations from supporters.

In 2021, crews assisted 137 children aged up to 17, double the number of children treated in 2020.

July remained the service's busiest month of the year and Saturday was the service's busiest day of the week, thought to be because of people taking part in hobbies and pastimes.

Nigel Hare, patient services operations director, said: "Our critical care doctors and paramedics have had their busiest year ever."

Clinicians and support staff had worked "tirelessly, often in challenging conditions during the pandemic, to ensure our patients were able to receive the highest level of care and have the best chance of a successful outcome", he said.

Nearly half of all the patients responded to were suffering a life-threatening medical condition.

The charity is aiming to educate and raise awareness about how to help people suffering cardiac arrest, the most common of all medical-related missions.

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