 Croydon South MP pledges support
On 9th May, MP for Croydon South, Richard Ottaway, visited London’s Air Ambulance, the charity that delivers an advanced trauma team to critically injured people in London, to pledge his support by generating awareness of the Charity in his constituency. In 2012, London’s Air Ambulance attended 63 incidents in Croydon.
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 Medical students raise £1,970 in 24h Ergothon
Fourty eight members of The Barts and the London Medical School Boat Club participated in a yearly event on 12th April, rowing non stop for a day to raise money for London's Air Ambulance. Students were taking turns on a rowing machine at North side of the Millennium Footbridge.
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 Taking off with FirstGroup support
FirstGroup, the leading transport operator in the UK and North America is providing our charity, with £100k worth of support over four years. Last month one of FirstGroup’s brand new hybrid buses, which is one of 23 which has just entered service in Essex, went head to head with our aircraft at RAF Northolt to promote the partnership.
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 Landing in City of London with office move
We are moving our headquarters into the heart of the City of London following a donation from Land Securities, the UK’s biggest commercial property company. The HQ team will move to the new 4,000 sq ft office spanning four floors on Philpot Lane on 29th April. The property is next to 20 Fenchurch Street, the new skyscraper being jointly developed by Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group.
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 London's Air Ambulance to use 4G to enhance service
London's Air Ambulance has formed a strategic partnership with mobile operator EE to develop new systems that will use 4G technology. The partnership is aimed at enhancing our service and cutting vital minutes off mission times for the benefit of patients. Our trauma team already started using tablet PCs with navigation apps, using EE’s 4G network, in rapid response cars, which are used at night to deliver a senior trauma doctor and paramedic to the patient.
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 Our charity office is moving!
We are delighted to announce that our charity office is moving to the City of London on 29th April 2013. After many years of residency at the Royal London Hospital, our charity team is to relocate to 7-8 Philpot Lane, EC3M 8AA.
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 Wear Red Day winners play rugby with Saracens
Saracens players Mouritz Botha and Carlos Nieto coached Highgate Primary School children to reward them for supporting London’s Air Ambulance. The school won our Wear Red Day competition when 400 children ‘sported' red during National Air Ambulance Week 2012. The prize, a tailored visit donated by Saracens, was delivered on 16th April.
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 Strategic partnership with International SOS
We have formed a strategic partnership with International SOS. The partnership will focus on securing additional funding for our charity to sustain the vital life-saving services it delivers across the capital and support a number of key enhancements.
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 London's Air Ambulance at Saracens
Saracens Rugby Club's premiership match against Harlequins on 24th March attracted a record crowd of 10,000. Our doctor, Ben Clarke, and paramedic, Dan Davies, delivered the matchball to the pitch while Saracens were warming up in specially designed shirts that match our new livery. Volunteers braved the cold to shake buckets, raising £1,200 and merchandise was sold in Saracen's new merchandise store.
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 Trauma Doctors by Channel 5
Our team will be followed in Channel 5’s Trauma Doctors in four 60 minute programmes, beginning on Thursday 11th April 2013 at 9pm. Shadowing London’s Air Ambulance and the UK’s leading trauma centre, The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, Trauma Doctors allows the audience to witness this specialist group of clinicians making the split second outcomes that can make the difference between life and death. Viewers are offered a rare insight into trauma doctors’ thoughts and decision-making processes through on the scene interviews and reflective interviews afterwards.
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 Five LAS paramedics to jump from plane to raise £3K
On 20th April, five paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and their friends will jump 10,000 feet from a plane to raise money for London’s Air Ambulance. Paramedics Andrew Mills, David Platts, Laura Andrews, Ayoola Ariyibi and Rachael Fox will do the sky dive along with seven other friends.
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 Move to RAF Northolt
We have moved the overnight airbase from Denham to RAF Northolt. The relocation of our MD902 Explorer helicopter (the quietest in its class) to the Royal Air Force base in South Ruislip will reduce flight time to and from the helipad at The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, thereby saving on fuel costs.
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 New look helicopter for London's Advanced Trauma Team!
Our helicopter has returned from its annual service with an ingenious new look - emblazoned with emergency markings and key messages. The changing message on the tail boom details the number of critical missions attended by our medical team, currently at 28,502. We believe our helicopter is the focal point to create greater awareness of the vital life-saving interventions that are carried out by our service 24/7.
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 Plymouth Brethren raise £2,000
In December, members of the Albacore Meeting Room Trust, The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church based in South London, set a fundraising target of £1,000. They were surprised by the generosity of donations received after running an email campaign and sending out letters, that informed their local congregation of our work.
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 Appointment of CEO to lead growth and development
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Graham Hodgkin to the role of Chief Executive Officer. He joins at an exciting time of rapid transition for the Charity and will lead the service through its next stages of development and growth. In addition to enhancing the current service, Graham will seek to secure additional funding to transform the scale and impact of the charity’s operations including the critical acquisition of a second helicopter.
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 Christmas Raffle 2012 Winners
Our supporters purchased 25,000 raffle tickets, raising a gross £41,000 in excess. Thank you to everyone who participated at London’s Air Ambulance Christmas Raffle 2012! We are delighted to announce the winners drawn on 21st December by The Woods Group Limited. The results are as follows:
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 Coutts exceeds fundraising target of £50,000
Coutts has exceeded its annual target of raising £50,000 for our charity, as their 2012 charity partner. Coutts’ Products, Services & Marketing team dug deep to raise more than double last year’s charity donation, culminating in a grand total of £51,705.60. Numerous fundraising activities were organised throughout the last twelve months, including comedy nights, a sponsored abseil and a 10k run. Other activities organised included a silent auction; a wine tasting evening; a treasure hunt around London; a squash tournament and a raffle.
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 Olympic Torch Bearer Raises over £600
44-yr-old Kirk Cross, the Olympic Torch bearer from Hornchurch, has been keeping the spirit of the Games up after the world watched him carry the Olympic flame down the Orsett Road, Grays on 6th July 2012. Nominated as one of the Olympic inspirational personalities by his sons’ school Head Teacher, Kirk raised almost £600 for us within his local community. “The fundraising gave me an excuse to dress up again in my Olympic uniform,” he says.
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 5km Santa Fun Run
On a fresh winter’s morning on Sunday 9th December, thousands of jolly Santas gathered in Greenwich Park to take part in DoItForCharity Santa Run 2012. Participating in the 5km run on behalf of London’s Air Ambulance were our ex-patient and his family, future paramedics and some of our wonderful supporters from FirstGroup.
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 Running a marathon trio a year after being hit by a bus
Only eight months after being hit by a bus, 40-yr-old personal trainer, Rachid Afouzar ran his first marathon for our charity in Berlin. He is already preparing to repeat this success in Marrakesh on 27th January and will conclude the fundraising triplet in London on 21st April 2013. The marathon trio adds up to 78 miles – almost twice the diameter of M25 - that Rachid will accomplish a little over a year after his accident.
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 Movember: London's 'Hair' Ambulance
The Movember edition of London's Air Ambulance team and our charity's MD902 Explorer. London's 'Hair' Ambulance has raised over £600 through their Movember page.
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 Skoda UK and Preston Motors provided two extra Rapid Response Cars for the Olympic Games
Skoda UK and Preston Motors provided us with two additional Skoda Octavias during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, temporarily increasing the number of vehicles in our fleet to eight. The cars would enable us to get extra teams to the scene in case of a major incident and they served as a back-up for our existing vehicles.
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 Support from Human Aid UK
Human Aid UK, the international charity based in Whitechapel, which aims to alleviate the suffering of the poorest people world-wide, turns its attention to the local community by aiming to raise £5,000 in 2013 for London's Air Ambulance. The partnership was initiated by Human Aid supporter, Runu Miah, who was treated by our charity in 2009.
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 Mayor of Croydon raised £15,000
Whilst Croydon's last Mayor, councillor Graham Bass was in office, his fundraising committee raised £15,000 for London's Air Ambulance. Between May 2011 and May 2012, the Croydon fundraising committee hosted various events including a charity dinner at The Royal Tandorri, Lunch with the Mayor at the Chateau, the Mayor's Charity Dinner and a Golf Day.
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 Lord Mayor's Show 2012
On Saturday 10th November, we took part in the Lord Mayor's Show, the annual parade that marked the inauguration of the 685th Lord Mayor of the City of London. Our staff, ex-patients and volunteers walked alongside 6,500 participants, including the new Lord Mayor, Alderman Roger Gifford, and Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis. The London’s Air Ambulance float enabled the crowd of over 500,000 (and millions more throughout the world) to visualise what our service is all about, .
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 Play in the Hospital Week at The Royal London Hospital
When children from The Royal London Hospital were asked to draw our helicopter, they had no idea they will shortly meet it 'in person'. During October’s Play in the Hospital Week, the children's ward took part in 'the best MD902 Explorer' drawing competition and had a surprise visit from the helipad. Senior Fire Officer, John Power. Our mascot, Ruby Rescue, came to hand over the prizes to winners and cheer up the little patients.
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 WorldFlight 2012: Get on board for a 7-day round the world flight
On 4th November, a British flight team, Simfest,will take off to ‘fly’ around the world non-stop in seven days, without even leaving a garage in Pinner, West London. They are part of WorldFlight 2012, a virtual round the world ‘cyber’ flight for charity. Within the week, their Boeing 737 simulator will virtually land and take off at over 45 airports to raise money for London’s Air Ambulance.
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 Run to the Beat 2012
On Sunday 28th October, 40 London’s Air Ambulance supporters ‘ran to the beat’ at London’s annual music half marathon. Our runners, together with more than 18,000 other participants, had to conquer the 13-mile docklands course. London’s Air Ambulance cheering squad, lead by our Charity Director, David Oakley, welcomed them at the finish line.
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 Dr Richard Lyon wins at European Resuscitation Council Congress
Our very own Honorary Clinical Research Fellow, Dr Richard Lyon, has triumphed at the 2012 European Resuscitation Council Congress, held in Vienna, where his research, ' A program of Education, Audit and Leadership can improve outcomes after Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest - the TOPCAT2', was the prize talk, beating off over 400 research abstracts from around the world.
Watch Dr Lyon's award winning lecture on the TOPCAT 2 project.
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 Holiday Inn - Commercial Road signs up to support us
One month after its opening in the East End, Holiday Inn on Commercial Road has pledged support for our charity. Located on the doorstep of The Royal Hospital, the new hotel will provide free venues and service discounts to our charity and its personnel, including doctors, paramedics and pilots.
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 The Radisson Blu Portman Hotel fundraises in dedicated action month
The Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, London has continued its support for our charity during a dedicated action month in September. The hotel - part of the Rezidor Hotel Group with its leading Responsible Business programme - has successfully completed its 9th dedicated annual Responsible Business Action Month. This initiative, which takes place every September, encourages team members to put in extra effort into activities that support the health, social wellbeing and environment of staff, guests and members of the local community.
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 How London made our celebrations happen during National Air Ambulance Week 2012
National Air Ambulance Week, which ran 24-30th September 2012, truly reflected the fact that London’s Air Ambulance is a charity supported from below - by members of the public. It is hard to imagine a better genre to encapsulate this than pop up street art that dominated Trafalgar Square during London’s celebrations. From passersby spontaneously donating at Trafalgar and Fenchurch Street station to ‘Wear Red’ activities taking place at almost one hundred offices and schools, our celebrations have spread throughout the Capital.
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 First ever Wear Red Day recap
On Friday 28th September, the signature colour of London’s Air Ambulance helicopter distinguished supporters of our charity from the crowd. Red became a dress code in almost one hundred schools, offices and homes all over London. The success of first ever Wear Red Day established it as an annual fundraising event, just as we hoped.
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 c2c passengers donate £825
c2c passengers have raised £825 for us after a charity collection at Fenchurch Street station. Our team of volunteers were joined by c2c staff to collect the generous donations of passengers as part of National Air Ambulance Week.
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 Showered with more than love from our supporters during National Air Ambulance Week
Donations were not the only thing showered on us during National Air Ambulance Week celebrations at Trafalgar Square. We didn’t hide in our fundraising bus despite this week’s heavy down pours and have put on dance gigs, medical demonstrations on ‘dummies’ and live street art performances right in front of The National Gallery. And there is more to come.
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 A busy year so far - 2012 statistics
On the dawn of National Air Ambulance Week, we release incident breakdown figures from 1st January 2012 - 31 August 2012 to enhance public understanding of the vital life-saving work our charity provides on a daily basis.
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 Celebrate with us at Trafalgar Square during National Air Ambulance Week
From 24th to 30th September, we will run a week of entertainment and fundraising with medical demonstrations on ‘dummies’ and artistic performances right in front of The National Gallery. So far, London’s Air Ambulance could only be seen at Trafalgar Square in cases of medical emergency. During National Air Ambulance Week, our red routemaster will become one of Trafalgar’s landmarks and will accommodate the celebrations of our life-saving charity.
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 London's Air Ambulance gets support from Saracens Rugby Club
Saracens rugby star Nils Mordt urged Londoners to support London’s Air Ambulance, the charity that runs London’s Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, after Saracens F.C. appointed it as their official charity. The rugby union team will get involved in the charity’s activities to help London’s Air Ambulance raise money for a second helicopter.
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 London's Air Ambulance supports 'medical skills for young offenders' project
We are pleased to announce our collaboration with The Liverpool Project, that has been set up to teach young offenders the basic medical skills necessary to manage victims of violent attacks. Young offenders, who are often present at the scene of violent incidents are trained to provide immediate haemorrhage control in the vital minutes after injury until the arrival of the emergency services.
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 Statement re: new helipad at St George's Hospital
Commenting on the news of London's second helipad at St George’s Hospital London, Dr Gareth Davies, Medical Director and Chair of the London’s Air Ambulance charity, said: “London’s Air Ambulance is a London charity that delivers advanced trauma care to critically injured patients when minutes are vital to survival.
“A second helipad at St George’s will be beneficial for surrounding county air ambulances, which may need to deliver seriously injured patients to a London Major Trauma Centre, but will not have a significant impact on London’s Air Ambulance activity or operations.
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 Rugby fans raise money at Saracens vs Leicester Tigers, Wembley
On Saturday 15th September, Saracens Rugby Club kindly invited London’s Air Ambulance to be part of their big game against Leicester Tigers at Wembley. Our team were out in force to raise money and awareness about our charity to over 40,000 spectators.
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 Sir Stirling Moss thanks London's Air Ambulance
In 2010 Sir Stirling Moss suffered a terrible fall in his home in London. Within minutes our specialist doctor and paramedic trauma team were at his side providing advanced medical care. Sir Stirling has since made a full recovery and yesterday visited our operational helipad to thank the team and find out more about our service.
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 Have Saracens join your team - Wear Red!
Whether it is children’s rugby training or a business breakfast, Saracens will pay a tailored visit to the group with the most participants wearing red in support of our charity. For your chance to win a Saracens visit, submit a photo of your school, organisation or family members dressed in red on Wear Red Day - 28th September. As in rugby, score matters and the photo with highest number of participants in red wins.
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 Trial of GE's pocket size Vscan to see inside patients' bodies
We have been trialing GE Healthcare’s pocket-sized ultrasound device, Vscan, during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The device allows our doctors and paramedics to easily and non-invasively inspect the inside of a patient’s body on scene, assessing the presence of internal bleeding as well as other life threatening conditions prior to hospital.
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 Care to Wear Red
Wear Red Day launches on Friday 28th September, for the first time in its history and it is a day which we hope will become an annual fundraising event. Simply by wearing red to the office, school or on a night out, you can raise awareness and money for our life-saving service.
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 Celebrate National Air Ambulanace Week
We have joined together with air ambulance charities across the UK to celebrate the first ever National Air Ambulance Week, 24th-30th September, which has been organised by the Association of Air Ambulances to raise awareness and funds for these charities that save lives daily.
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 Hacks and Flaks donate £12,000
City journalists and PR professionals raised more than £12,000 for our charity at the Hacks v Flaks summer sports day at Dulwich College on Saturday 11th August. London's Air Ambulance was the chosen charity as our team helped save the life of Independent's Associate Business Editor, Jim Moore, last year after he was knocked off his bike by an oil tanker.
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 Freemasons Grand Charity donates £4,000
The Freemasons Grand Charity has donated £4,000 to London’s Air Ambulance, The donation was made at the annual Middlesex Grand Family Fete held at The Royal Masonic School for Girls, Rickmansworth on Sunday 15th July.
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 Providing advanced care for the London 2012 Olympic Games
We are proud to announce that we are the designated air ambulance for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (“the Games”). In addition to providing Major Incident and serious injury cover for London during this time, our medical teams will provide additional medical care at the Mountain Biking, BMX, and Equestrian (cross country).
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 London Politicians pledge to raise awareness in local communities to help fund a second helicopter
On 12 July 2012 London Members of Parliament, Peers and Council Leaders demonstrated their support for the London's Air Ambulance Charity's contribution to the Capital's safety. The event was hosted by Mary Macleod, Brentford & Isleworth MP, and Rushanara Ali, Bethnal Green & Bow MP, and was kindly sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management.
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 Coutts Night Raises £22,000
On Thursday 21st June, Coutts held a Wine Challenge & Charity Auction at their Strand office which raised £22,000 for our charity. Coutts Products, Services & Marketing began their support when they selected us to be their Charity partner for 2012. The success of last week’s event combined with numerous other funding raising activities so far this year, they have now raised £35,000 of their £50,000 target.
Mark Evans, Head of Coutts Institute, commented: “We are delighted to be supporting London's Air Ambulance and the vital work they do in and around London.The combination of 100 staff, 100 guests, great wine and fantastic fundraising made for a tremendously fun and inspiring evening”.
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 Community Car Show raises £5,800
St Peters Church in Harold Wood held their annual Car Show on Saturday June 16th and raised £5,800 for London’s Air Ambulance. The successful event was held at the Redden Court School in Cotswold Road, Harold Wood and is now in its second year running.
Organisers were pleased with the over all turn out, of 3,000 spectators, 200 exhibitors and 150 volunteers, increasing their fundraising efforts from last year. Spencer Griffiths, Event Organiser, said: “Last year was such a great success; it had to be done again this year. We are all exceptionally happy with raising so much for such a worthwhile charity and we know the funds will be vital for them to help other people.”
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 Abseil is our most successful event ever, raising a staggering £94K
On 14th and 15th June 2012, 200 people braved the 585ft leap off Broadgate Tower, in London, when they took on an abseil to show their support for London’s Air Ambulance. The event raised a staggering £94, 000 for the Charity, the largest amount raised from a single event ever.
Ashurst, a leading international law firm, booked out most of one day with almost 100 of its employees and friends taking to the skies. There was also great support from other London organisations including the London Stock Exchange, Aberdeen Asset Management and Coutts.
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 Paramedic Kayaking from London to Manchester
On 9th June 2012, London Paramedic Tony McColley will be paddling a kayak from London to Manchester to raise funds for London’s Air Ambulance. He will paddle over 240 miles of the British Waterways canal network, carrying the boat around 190 locks and several tunnels, with little support and no back up crew.
When asked why he said ‘that it was a fitting way to celebrate his recent registration as a paramedic after being trained by the London Ambulance Service’ and that he had ‘Never been to Manchester!’
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 Former Patient Raises over £3,200 with Superhero Fun Run
Kim Bowler, a former patient, completed the 5k Superhero Fun Run on Sunday May 13, 2012 to raise funds for London's Air Ambulance. Joined by family, friends and supporters, Kim walked the full course in Regent's Park dressed as SuperGirl; Kim was hit by a car in October 2009 and has since been working hard to rehabilitate. Her hard work and determination has brought her to reach her goal of finishing the race, and everyday she gets closer to her fundraising goal of £5,000. If you would like to help Kim reach her goal, you donate through her JustGiving page. To check out some more images of the day, please check out our Flickr page. A big thank to Kim, all of the supporters that came out on Sunday, and all of the generous doners that have contributed to Kim's big goal!
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 Trialling brain-cooling device in cardiac arrest patients
The first in the UK to trial a novel device for directly cooling the brain using evaporative, nasal spray technology, the RhinoChill® IntraNasal Cooling System in pre-hospital cardiac arrest patients. We will conduct this study on our Physician Response Unit; also know as the ‘Cool Car’.
Thousands of people die every year from sudden cardiac arrest. Cooling the patient following resuscitation (‘therapeutic hypothermia’) has been shown to improve survival and limit brain damage from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The latest research, however, suggests that cooling the patient earlier, at the time of resuscitation, will have an even greater benefit.
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 13 Runners Raise over £15,500 for London's Air Ambulance
We would like to say a massive thank you to the 13 wonderful people who represented us in the Virgin London Marathon on 22nd April. Together they have already raised over £15,500, and sponsorship is still coming in which is fantastic. To see more pictures from the day please see our Flickr account.
Whether you would like to apply for one of our three London's Air Ambulance place's in the 2013 Virgin London Marathon or not, we advise all interested runners to apply in the ballot initially to increase their chances of obtaining a place. |
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 Launch of our Interactive Mission Map
We have now launched an Interactive Mission Map on our website. Each postcode area will show a breakdown of missions that London’s Air Ambulance has attended in that vicinity since 1st January 2012.
We attend over 2,000 missions in the Capital per year, only tending to those patients who are critically injured and in whom every minute counts. Missions commonly involve serious road traffic collisions, falls from heights, incidents on the rail network and assaults.
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London's Air Ambulance has 13 runners in the Virgin Marathon
On Sunday 22nd April, London's Air Ambulance will have 13 supporters running the Virgin London Marathon in aid of the Charity.
Out of hundreds of applicants, three runners were selected for our official places in the marathon, each aiming to raise £2012.There are an additional ten runners that have secured their own place who will be donating their sponsorship to our Charity. One of our placed runners is Mr. John Wright, a former patient that personally benefited from our service. Mr. Wright has run the London Marathon for London's Air Ambulance before, and we are delighted to welcome him back to represent us in 2012.
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 Four year old ex patient, opens London Stock Exchange on behalf of the Charity
London’s Air Ambulance opened London trading in the London Stock Exchange’s Market Open Ceremony on 23rd March 2012. To mark this special occasion, London’s Air Ambulance invited ex patient, four year old Liam, to open the market together with the doctor and paramedic who helped save his life.
London’s Air Ambulance has been the London Stock Exchange Group Charity Partner for two years and has received a generous donation of £100K annually.
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 Uk's first air ambulance to carry Blood on Board
Continuing to be at the forefront of medical innovation
Today, London’s Air Ambulance, will make history as the first air ambulance in the UK to carry blood on board its aircraft and cars.
Every day in London, victims of major trauma are attended by London’s Air Ambulance. Many of these patients are suffering from catastrophic bleeding. Some die at the scene from blood loss and never make it to hospital.
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London's Air Ambulance appointed Coutts Charity Partner of 2012
Coutts’ Products, Services & Marketing Department has appointed London’s Air Ambulance as its Charity Partner for 2012. The charity was the outright winner, in a vote to all staff within the team, gaining 56% of the ballot.
Coutts’ Charitable Foundation has donated an initial amount of £5,000 to kick start the fundraising and staff have set themselves a target to raise £50,000 by the end of the year. They aim to do this through a number of events which will take place throughout the next 12 months, including a charity auction and poker night through to regular cake sales.
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 Sidcup Scout collects 19,000 used stamps to raise money!
14 year old Scout, Conor Bailey, of Sidcup Scout Group, was set a challenge to fundraise for a charitable organisation of his choice to gain his Community Challenge Badge. Conor decided to collect used stamps as they can be converted into money donations for London’s Air Ambulance. Not content on doing things by halves, Conor enlisted the help of all his friends and family and collected a whopping 19,000 stamps.
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 National Express Sponsorship of London's Air Ambulance Takes Off
National Express Group, a leading bus, coach and rail transport provider, has launched a £25,000 annual sponsorship of London’s Air Ambulance.
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 Appointment of an Executive Director to Spearhead City Fundraising
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Julian Thompson as an Executive Director of the Charity. Julian previously worked as a doctor on London’s Air Ambulance in 2010 and has returned to lead an enhancement of the capacity and funding of the service in partnership with senior figures in the City of London.
We believe that this is a fantastic opportunity to work with leading members of the City community to ensure that our Charity’s world class medical care can be maintained and developed to serve the Capital. There is synergy between the innovative and life saving care that London’s Air Ambulance provides and the dynamic success of London’s corporate community.
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We have moved!! For the first time in 23 years
To a 284ft helipad on top of the new Royal London Hospital
Today marked a moment in history when London’s Air Ambulance, the world’s leading air ambulance, began operating from its new home on top of the new Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. The helicopter landed at 8.05am for service. At 284ft high, the helipad is one of the highest in Europe and is almost the same height as Big Ben. As well as amazing views over London it hosts state-of-the-art facilities for the crew.
The 28m2 rooftop helipad with an 80m walkway has flood and perimeter lighting, has a fire fighting system including fire-fighting and drainage-piping as well as an oil separator. The helipad is situated on top of the 17th floor of the new building. A super-fast elevator enables the patient to be transferred in just two minutes from the rooftop to the Emergency Department on the ground floor.
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 Moment in History!!
First helipad landing, gearing up for our move.
Yesterday marked a moment in history when we had our debut landing on our new helipad which is based on top of the new Royal London Hospital. Although we are not officially moving until 14th December, we had to run some tests and training ahead of our first day of operation. Needless to say everything went well and we are looking forward to the move next week.
The new helipad, which is 284ft high, is almost the same height as Big Ben and one of the highest in Europe. The new Royal London Hospital is home to the UK’s leading trauma and emergency care centre and a highly-acclaimed children’s hospital. It will provide the people of east London – among some of the most deprived communities in the UK - with one of the best-equipped and most comfortable hospitals anywhere, reflecting at last the outstanding clinical excellence of staff.
Check out the landing on Youtube
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 Patient visits medical team who helped save her life
In May 2011 Emma Piper was hit by a car. She has made a miraculous recovery and in November 2011 came to the Helipad with her Mum, Dad and sisters to visit Dr Neil Slabbert and Paramedic, Mike Bradfield, who flew to her aid. Other members of the team who were working the day of Emma's accident were pilots Neil Jeffers and Johnny Crewsdon and Chief Fire Officer John Power who Emma also got to meet. It was lovely to have Emma up on the pad with us. It is great for the team who see their patients when they are very sick to see them doing so well. We have also secured a new Doctor for the future with Emma's 6 year old sister expressing an interest.
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 At the forefront of medical innovation.
BBC reports on Code Red protocol
On 18 November 2011, The BBC reported on Clinical trials that are under way in the UK of new blood transfusion procedures for patients with traumatic injuries. Dr Anne Weaver was interviewed about how the new transfusion procedures impact on the work of London’s Air Ambulance and our Code red protocol – which is what we use to pre-alert the hospital to make sure that patients we pick up from the roadside who are bleeding get the blood products that they require as soon as they arrive at hospital.
To read the full stories and watch Dr Anne Weaver’s interviews please follow links to BBC website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15741800 & http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15775949
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 Out in force at the Lord Mayor's Show 2011
On 12th November 2011 we were delighted to take part in the Lord Mayor’s Show. Thanks to the generous sponsorship from Saints, the airfreight haulage company, we were able to take part in the parade, where we showcased our service to hundreds of thousands of people. We received an overwhelming response and were cheered on by the crowds.
A mixture of patients, volunteers, LAA medical teams and children turned up in force to support us on the day and all were delighted to be the first to wear our new uniforms. Our rapid reponse car was shined up and looked great in front of the impressive truck donated to us, along with amazing drivers, by Saints.
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 London’s Air Ambulance Warns of Recycling & Lottery Scam
Company called 'Air Ambulance Service' is not a Registered Charity
We would like to warn Londoners to be aware of a door-to-door company calling themselves the ‘Air Ambulance Service’. This is not a registered charity and London’s Air Ambulance is not receiving any donations from this service.
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 Dame Kelly Holmes Wishes Jordan Ultra Duo Good Luck
Our pilot, Captain Neil Jeffers, and doctor, Dr. Tom Konig, are soon to complete the ultimate endurance test, seeing them run 8 marathons in 6 days through the deserts of Jordan, in a bid to raise money for the charity.
To increase awareness and money for their feat they will be running the equivalent of one marathon at London’s Southbank in their desert gear today (16th August). Colleagues and friends will set up at Potters Field, between City Hall and Tower Bridge, from 12pm (when the two start running) and will be there available to chat until they have finished their marathon.
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 First Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine Professor in the UK
Dr. David Lockey, London’s Air Ambulance Consultant & Trustee and Research & Development lead, was made Honorary Professor of Trauma and Prehospital Emergency Medicine by the University of Bristol.
This is believed to be the only Professorial appointment in the UK in the new medical speciality of Prehospital Emergency Medicine. The General Medical Council have now approved, as of 1st August 2011, Prehospital Emergency Medicine as a subspecialty of Anaesthesia and Emergency Medicine.
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 Join our 5K Fun Run and dress up for a chance to win a Helicopter flight from Denham
Run, conga, skip or walk! Take part in our 5k Fun Run in Regent’s Park on 18th September. The run is for people of all ages and levels and there is no minimum sponsorship, we just ask that you raise as much as you can.
Fancy dress is encouraged, but not necessary, for this event and we are offering prizes for the best dressed, including a flight in the helicopter for the winner. The flight will be from Denham airfield to the helipad on top of the Royal London Hospital in time for it to start its daily shift. The lucky winner will also be given a tour of the helipad and will have the opportunity to meet our team who perform life saving operations at the roadside daily.
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 Nowegian Ambassador and Norwegian Air Ambulance visit
We were delighted to host a visit for His Excellency, Kim Traavik, The Norwegian Ambassador for London, in July. He was joined by Steinar Sørlie, General Secretary of the Norwegian Air Ambulance and former Minister, and Professor Hans Morten Lossius, Research and Development Director of the Norwegian Air Ambulance.
The visit was arranged to hear about the recent research and development collaboration between us and the Norwegian Air Ambulance.
The agreement was signed recently in Norway and cements the already close tie between the two organisations.
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 Harold Wood's First Car Show Raises over £3,000
Despite mixed weather, well over 1500 local residents visited Harold Wood’s first ever car show, organised and run by the “Petrol Heads” of the local parish church, St. Peter’s. They raised a wapping £3,145 for us!
There was plenty besides cars to see and do, as 139 volunteers from St. Peter’s church, Harold Wood, ran food, face-painting, and bouncy castles. There were also a police car, ambulance and fire engine to play in, and Krispy Kreme donuts and Domino’s Pizza helped out too. Due to the success of the show, the organisers have decided to run it again next year on Saturday 16th June 2012 and have chosen us as the charity again. The event was sponsored by Allen Ford and Essex Audi car dealers.
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 Imogen Hicks and Draeger Medical team raise £3,600 on Wiltshire to Buckinghamshire run
In May 2008 London's Air Ambulance and The Royal London Hospital helped save Imogen Hicks’ life after a horrendous motorcycle accident, which left her disabled.
After returning to work and getting her life back on track, Imogen decided that she really wanted to give something back by raising money for London’s Air Ambulance so they could continue to help others like they helped her.
Imogen, with her friends and colleagues from Draeger Medical, decided to run the 85 mile Ridgeway footpath starting in Avebury, Wiltshire and finishing at Ivinghoe Beacon, Buckinghamshire. The 2010 event was so successful that they decided to replicate it in 2011.
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 Bringing LIFE to the Petchy Academy, Stoke Newington
London's Air Ambulance is currently working in partnership with a new and exciting company called LIFE.
Their vision is to deliver an ‘Emergency Lifesaving Skills on the Street’ programme into all classrooms across London. LIFE is an innovative company formed by healthcare professionals, who, together with London's Air Ambulance, believe that every child in London should be taught CPR. The programme is developed and taught by healthcare professionals, and teaches the students the skills needed when dealing with CPR, choking, wounds and bleeding. The first programme went live on Friday 1st July at The Petchey Academy, Stoke Newington, where the faculty of London's Air Ambulance and LIFE taught thirty students the skills needed when dealing with real-life emergencies.
The day was a huge success and London's Air Ambulance with LIFE look forward to delivering this programme to schools across London in the next academic year.
Commenting on the programme, one of the student’s of Petchy Academy said "I feel confident in my ability to help a person if they are in need".
To learn more about this new initiative please contact
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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 A visit from the Mayor and Mayoress of Croydon
On Friday 3 June 2011, The Mayor and Mayoress of Croydon were invited to visit London's Air Ambulance at the helipad on top of the Royal London Hospital. This was a very enjoyable event and The Mayor and Mayoress learnt a lot about the type and severity of incidents that the air ambulance is called out to and the work that is involved with such complex injuries.
The Mayor and Mayoress were shown round by Stephen Armstrong and introduced to the crew.
London's Air Ambulance is one of The Mayor's chosen charities with Croydon Dyslexia Association as the other.
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 Man saved by London’s Air Ambulance to abseil on anniversary
On 7th and 8th May 2011, over 150 people will brave the 230ft leap off 20 Cabot Square in Canary Wharf to show their support for London’s Air Ambulance – the charity which runs London’s only Helicopter Emergency Service, saving the lives of seriously injured patients.
Adam Gage, 21, who was rescued by the London’s Air Ambulance team on 7th May 2007, is taking part in the abseil with some of his family members. Adam suffered a severe head injury following an accident. London’s Air Ambulance was called to the scene, where they worked on him and then airlifted him to the Royal London Hospital. Gill Gage, Adam’s Mother said: “Without the London’s Air Ambulance it is unlikely that Adam would have recovered, we as a family and all his friends will be eternally grateful.”
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 July 7th inquest findings
on behalf of London’s Air Ambulance, Dr. Gareth Davies, Medical Director and Chair of the Trustees, said:
“On the day of the 7th July 2005 terrorist attacks, we believe that all the London emergency service units pulled together and worked incredibly hard. We are very proud of the London’s Air Ambulance teams who were present on that day. The Charity is also delighted with the supportive words from Lady Justice Hallett and the families of the victims.
“As a result of these findings, we look forward to being more involved with emergency planning for London and, with the continued support from the public, we will keep providing this cutting edge service. As always, we would like to thank everyone for their support.”
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 London and Norwegian air ambulance collaborate
London’s Air Ambulance, the Charity which runs London’s only Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, is pleased to announce that it has signed a unique research and collaboration agreement with the Norwegian Air Ambulance.
This agreement formalises the existing strong links between two long established providers of physician-led pre-hospital care. Both organisations are committed leaders in the field of quality improvement in pre-hospital care and place research and development high on their agendas.
London’s Air Ambulance has an international reputation for clinical excellence and has trained the majority of pre-hospital clinical leaders in the UK and many from overseas. It has pioneered advances in care and procedures which have been adopted across the world. The Norwegian Air Ambulance has a rapidly expanding research programme and a unique designated centre for training and development as well as strong links with Norwegian Universities.
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 Finance deal secured with new bankers
Financing deal secures the Helicopter for seven years
London’s Air Ambulance, the Charity that runs London’s only Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, is pleased to announce it has secured financing on its helicopter for the next seven years. The deal, financed through Santander Corporate Banking, with the support of Virgin Group, will enable the Charity to concentrate its efforts on continuing to develop this vital service as one of the world’s leading Air Ambulance services whose clinical innovations have been adopted globally. The Charity is also pleased to announce that it has appointed Santander Corporate Banking as its primary bankers.
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London’s Air Ambulance attends its 25,000th mission
London’s Air Ambulance, the Charity which runs London’s only air ambulance has today attended its 25,000th mission. The service, which has been in operation for 23 years, also celebrates a year of being a 24hr operation next month, in April 2011, thanks to the continued support of its sponsors and the London community.
London’s Air Ambulance provides pre-hospital care to victims of serious injury throughout London – serving the 10 million people who live, work and commute within the M25. The service carries a Senior Trauma Doctor and a specially trained Paramedic, essentially bringing the hospital to the patient. In serious cases the patient may not always be able survive the distance to hospital so operations need to be performed on scene.
Last year London’s Air Ambulance attended 1979 incidents, including 185 children under the age of 16. London’s Air Ambulance is a pioneer of open heart surgery at the roadside for chest stabbings and in 1993 carried out this procedure which resulted in one of the world’s first survivors. The service is now experiencing a survival rate of 18% in patients who are clinically dead as a result of this type of injury.
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