Cornwall Air Ambulance has seen a 10% rise in mission numbers over the last year, after being tasked 1,160 times during 2023.
New figures released by the charity show 534 of these incidents were trauma-related and 297 were to help people who had suffered medical emergencies. The crew also attended 306 cardiac arrests.
Throughout the year, the critical care team delivered a total of 19 blood transfusions at the scene of an incident and carried out 19 inter-hospital transfers.
Mick McLachlan, lead specialist paramedic in critical care, said: “2023 was another busy year for the aircrew, with some exceptionally busy months over the summer period.
“We are only able to help those who are seriously ill or injured thanks to the generosity of the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Thanks to your support, we can get our highly skilled crew and specialist equipment to the scene of an incident as quickly as possible and convey patients to the best-suited hospital for onward care.”
This rise in taskings comes as Cornwall Air Ambulance launches its Heli2 Appeal, aiming to raise £2.85 million over the next 12 months to purchase a second helicopter.
Chief executive, Tim Bunting, said: “This rise in missions demonstrates the need to bolster our service with a second aircraft. We want to be able to attend even more missions by air, to help people in their greatest moment of need. Due to the extreme demands of the current helicopter, owning a second will significantly boost our availability, as when one is undergoing planned or unplanned maintenance a second will be ready and available.
“Most importantly it will enable the aircrew to fly hundreds of extra missions, and ultimately save even more lives.”
