I am the steam queen!

Reading our accounts (available here) you might wonder why we don't refocus all our energies on the income streams which have the highest return - legacies and community fundraising or the lottery? The charity shops on the other hand, whilst generating a healthy gross profit by the standards of many businesses, are a relatively costly way of raising money for charity.

This was certainly my question two years ago when I started working for Devon Air Ambulance. I very quickly came to understand that the value of our shops is not just in the income they generate (and benchmarked against stats from the Association of Charity Shops they generate a good return) and it was really brought home to me when I spent last Friday working in our Cowick Street branch.

My god I ached - it has taken me a week to blog this because I have been totally knackered ever since. Really, everything hurt.

You have to understand my normal working day involves a lot of sitting: sitting at a computer; sitting in meetings; sitting in my car driving over Devon's vast road network; all sorts of sitting. Very occasionally I get to stand up: stand up and walk to the meeting room to sit down; stand up and walk to the kettle to make coffee (caffeine please - more of this below); stand up to walk to the car and sit down; stand up and speak then sit down; stand up to go to the loo....you get the picture.

Now, the reason charity shops enjoy a healthy gross profit despite very reasonable prices is twofold: volunteers and donated goods. We are SOOOO lucky to have so many fabulous volunteers who are willing to give up their time to sort through bags of donations, tag them, steam them, price them, put them out in the shop, rotate the stock, recycle the unsaleable stuff (about 50% based on my experience last week - more below!) disposing of the unmentionables, which cost us money to get rid of. We are HUGELY indebted to everyone who makes the effort to not just chuck out what they no longer want but set it aside and donate it to charity.

As part of our job shadowing programme I was a volunteer for the day at Cowick Street and I had a fabulous day. The ONLY thing I regret is not taking my own coffee. I couldn't work out why I had a stonking headache until about 3pm when I discovered I'd been drinking decaf all day! Otherwise, it was a fantastic day.

I sorted, I tagged, I steamed (believe me - I steamed - ladies of a certain age should probably avoid this!), I even priced and twice I was let loose on the till. I met two fantastic volunteers who probably thought I didn't know my arse from my elbow - they were right! I met some customers, regulars and irregulars. I was supported by a great shop manager, Michelle. What I really appreciated though was just what an important role the shops play within their communities.

Like most charities, and businesses nowadays, we have a vision, mission & values statement. The shops embody two of our values brilliantly: they are a vital part of their communities and heavily dependent on the invaluable contribution of volunteers. What might not be apparent to someone new to the organisation is quite how hard these stars work - given they are almost all retired and we are talking physical work.

Thanks to all these wonderful people, as well as the great staff, the shops genuinely represent our roots within the community. They reflect our commitment to being part of the communities all over Devon and they also ensure we have a direct link to local people in their areas. They are a meeting point and a distribution point for volunteers and supporters. They are great fun - people come in to have a laugh and share gossip. They are also plugged into the recycling agenda: as Bob the Builder says, reduce, reuse, recyle.

My day was unremarkable on this front. I know from talking to other people that 'stock' donated to charity shops has included everything from valuable paintings to mummified cats. The worst I encountered was a pair of very well used/soiled cloth slippers with a touching handwritten note explaining that they had not been washed (obvious) but were washable: result - recyling bin. So many people think we have a secret laundry out back!

Based on my experience last week, 50% of what is donated to charity shops is unsaleable. Thankfully, half of this is recyclable - and STILL MAKES US MONEY! I wrote this loud because, unlike Mary Portas, we don't want people to stop sending us fabrics and shoes which are unsaleable because we get paid for recycling them.

Unfortunately, of the 50% unsaleable items, a significant proportion is also unrecyclable and therefore completely unsellable and we have to pay to have removed. Certain things we just cannot accept full stop (white goods, TV's, furniture without fire retardant tags). Unfortunately that doesn't stop people leaving them on the doorstep - more unfortunately, we then have to pay to dispose of them. Aarghh!

So, my overall impressions? I love our shops even more - they are truly community resources for Devon people, thanks to Devon people, run by and for Devon people. Exactly the same as the air ambulances they support. Heartening, funny, hard work and challenging.

What exactly is it you do?

It is wild and woolly outside - again. Average night's sleep over the last 10 days is less than 6 so I'm probably not at my best today! This is not a complaint as it has been a very 'busy in a good way' week and a good one to illustrate what I do and why I still think I've got the best job in Devon!



A small team from DAAT and I started last week with a great 2 day conference with our national association (http://www.airambulanceassociation.co.uk/) topped by a cuddle from the wonderful David Jason, who is patron of the AAA. This time next year, Rodders!

It is very useful to meet with colleagues from around the country, all of us doing things slightly differently but hopefully all responding as is most appropriate for the particular needs of our local areas. Plenty of banter, challenge and mutual support.


Last Thursday we had a fabulous day at beautiful Gidleigh Park with Ann Widdecombe joining us as guest speaker for lunch and Juliet Mills as our speaker for dinner (yes - THE Juliet Mills, film star and daughter of Sir John Mills!).

The whole day was made possible by two fabulous lead sponsors: Rebecca Pope at St. James's Place Wealth Management and Cathedral Financial Management. In addition, Gidleigh Park, Coutts & Co, Langage Icecream, Paxton & Whitfield, Private Cellar, David Clarke all donated fabulous 'money can't buy' auction prizes. The icing on the cake though was Executive Chef Michael Caines introducing and explaining each exquisite course as it arrived. (As I said - the best job in Devon!)


Friday saw me scooting up to Barnstaple to pick up a cheque from Devon based international pharmaceuticals firm Actavis who raised more than £17,500 doing the 3 peaks challenge in 24 wet and windy hours in September. I was really impressed, even the MD took part. Everyone involved had been training for 6 months and it was a great achievement.


On Saturday I braved the elements to travel down to Start Point to meet a potential new volunteer. I don't normally get to do these initial interviews. Probably a good job too as we must have talked for a good 2 hours - she is going to be so helpful to us in a very remote area where we simply can't meet demand for attending events and presentations without our volunteers. Most impressive, this woman had singlehandedly made over 300 scones for a fundraising cream tea on behalf of DAAT, all before breakfast, the day after her daughter's wedding. Boy is she organised!

So far this week has been a mix of management team debate, governance training and catching up with the to do list. The highlight of the week I suspect will be the day I spend job shadowing in one of our charity shops - I am going to be the steam queen.

Who decides where the helicopters go?

The short answer is one of 3 specially trained controllers in the ambulance control centre.

The long answer is that both aircraft normally operate with a pilot and two paramedics although volunteer doctors sometimes fly as well. It is tasked from a dedicated HEMS Desk operated by despatchers who have undergone additional specialist training as well as regular familiarisation flights with crew.

They are based at the South West Ambulance Trust (SWAST) control room in Exeter where they monitor all the calls coming into the service in order to identify the jobs where the helicopters will make a real difference.

The charity's Trustees set the criteria for dispatching the air ambulances and the HEMSdesk dispatcher at ambulance control decides which patients meet the criteria on a day to day basis.


The type of incidents we attend are extremely varied and include both trauma and illness.
We break down these into further categories. Trauma could include multiple injuries, head injury, penetrative injury or broken limbs. Medical emergencies range from heart attacks, strokes or asthma attacks to anaphylactic shock.

The bottom line is that the aircraft must be offering something additional to what the statutory ambulance service must: either expertise or equipment on scene, or speed with which to get the patient to the right hospital for definitive treatment.

Since the Hemsdesk went full time last year our monitoring reports show that we've seen a significant improvement in targeting what are inevitably very expensive resources to the right jobs. We'll never eradicate the jobs where we get stood down halfway there. If we did it would suggest we were not responding quickly enough to potentially life-threatening situations which may turn out to be harmless - I for one don't want to feel responsible for putting saving fuel over the benefit a few minutes can make to a patient's life (not to mention their family and friends) should they be needed as suspected.

Why did the air ambulance get sent out for a minor injury?

Given the cost of deploying an air ambulance, people, particularly donors and supporters, are quite right to question why we respond to apparently minor injuries or sometimes turn up to find we aren't needed. There are many reasons of course as every call is unique but these generally fall into one of two categories.


Location, location, location!
The criteria we apply in Devon go beyond the straightforward life or death 999 calls because of the unique character of the county. We have two long and rugged coastlines, two wild and remote moors and more narrow country lanes through rolling countryside than you can shake a stick at.


More often than not, if we are attending to a minor injury it is because the patient is in a remote area or inaccessible by road. In these circumstances, what starts as a minor injury can easily lead to a more serious situation. A good example of this is an elderly person with a badly sprained ankle on Dartmoor. A long wait in the cold for a rescue party to stretcher them off the moor could lead to complications like hypothermia and shock.

Additionally, some relatively minor injuries like a broken ankle, if not treated quickly, can lead to permanent disability and even loss of limb.

Finally, physically stretchering someone off the moor or across farmland places both patient and rescuers at further risk.


Poor information
Sometimes the 999 message can make it sound as though the injury could be more serious than it turns out to be. Callers are frequently confused, distressed and unable to give a clear description of the patient's condition or even whereabouts. One of our HEMSdesk despatchers told me of one caller who insisted he was on the A30 at Ashburton (an impossibility for non-local browsers!). In either case, it is better to be safe than sorry as any delay could be life-threatening.

Another frequent situation is that there are a number of 999 calls made about a single incident because more people have mobile phones and will report an accident, perhaps on the other side of a dual carriageway. They aren't able to confirm details but might report a car has rolled over or a motorcyclist collided with a lorry. Again, people can and do walk away from incidents like this but our crews are not going to sit around waiting for someone to confirm whether they are or are not needed when crucial minutes might be wasted if they are.

To sum up, we'd much rather be on our way and then stood down than not go until we are called in by a land crew by which time much of the speed advantage of the aircraft is lost. The introduction of specially trained despatchers has significantly reduced the number of aborted missions over the last year but we would be very concerned if there were none.

Why shouldn't the Government fund Devon Air Ambulance?

Devon's Air Ambulance service was founded within the community by a local mum, Ann Thomas, who lost her son Ceri when he was knocked off his bicycle. The doctor's who treated him explained that the only thing that might have saved him was getting treatment within the so called 'golden hour' after the accident.

Thanks to Ann's tireless efforts over 6 years we were able to begin operations in 1992 and, 17 years later, we have just passed our 15,000th mission thanks to literally hundreds of volunteers and thousands of supporters and funders across the county.


Devon is unique in having two air ambulances for one county. This is only thanks to the enormous generosity of the people, businesses and community groups of Devon who work so hard to support the charity. It is also because down here we recognise the importance of retaining community ownership and control of such a vital resource. We want an air ambulance service dedicated to meeting local needs and aspirations rather than Westminster or Whitehall driven targets.


As one of our patient's put it to me last year, the service doesn't just benefit the individual treated or airlifted but also their family, friends, colleagues, employers and whole communities. So, with something this important to so many local people, we believe it is safest if it remains a local charity, owned by and for the people of Devon and accountable first and foremost to the people who make the service possible through their unstinting support.


Our job is to make sure we get the best possible value for money from every penny donated and as local people ourselves we fully understand why this is so important. It really is about real people saving real lives. Check out our website for more info.

Why does Devon have two Air Ambulances?

Devon is the only air ambulance operation in the UK to have 2 aircraft covering just one county for two key reasons.

As the millions of people who visit Devon each year know, it is a beautiful, rural county with large areas of remote moorland, miles and miles of rugged coast, and more areas of outstanding natural beauty than you can shake a stick at. It has one of the longest road networks in the UK, a huge proportion of which is unclassified. Down here that means single track lanes with 12' high hedges, spangled with wildflowers, and grass growing in the middle of the road.

The downside of these characteristics is that, in an emergency, vast areas of the county are either inaccessible by road or simply a very long distance from hospital. So far in 2009, both aircraft are averaging 3 missions a day and are frequently operational at the same time: reason 1 - Devon needs two air ambulances.

Most importantly, the people, businesses and communities of Devon know a good thing when they see it and know that these are their air ambulances providing the service that they want and need: reason 2 - the amazing generosity and support given to the charity has made it possible to have two air ambulances. Every day, somewhere in the county, people are doing wacky and wonderful things to raise funds, playing our lottery, putting spare change in a box at the post office, remembering the charity in their wills or organising an event.

Our job is to ensure we safeguard this vital life-saving resource for generations to come - no pressure then!