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!
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!
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