UK aeromedical transport provider Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) has been called to a record number of incidents in the first half of 2024. The specialist crew responded to 1,159 people in urgent need of critical care between 1 January and the end of June, an increase of around 21 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The charity is set for a record year and has forecast that this could be around 400 extra call-outs compared to 2023. On average, that's an extra person every day who needs the specialist skills of GWAAC's critical care team.

Operating costs have also been increasing for the Almondsbury-based service; the average cost per mission is now around £2,200 ($2,825), an increase of 10 per cent.

Operations officer Tim Ross-Smith says, “Nobody plans to need an air ambulance or critical care team being called out to them, but we're seeing more and more people who have needed our help. We can't plan for who that is, where they may be or when the call comes in, but we do everything we can to be prepared. We're asking the public to consider giving us a regular donation so that we can continue to be prepared well into the future. You can help us be there for anyone, anywhere, anytime.”

GWAAC has shared its mission statistics from the first half of the year and the charity has noted a significant increase in call-outs to babies, children and teenagers, both in percentage of total missions (19 per cent) and in number. Call-outs to young people increased by 52 per cent compared to the same period in 2023 and the crew responded to almost double the number of babies (from 26 to 50).

Responses to calls for someone who collapsed, or for a stabbing-related incident, also increased, even though call-outs to these types of incidents make up just a small percentage of GWAAC's total missions. Calls to someone who has collapsed increased by 85 per cent compared to 2023 (from 41 to 76) and a stabbing-related incident increased by 75 per cent compared to the same period in 2023 (from 47 to 82).

In the first six months of 2024, the percentage of call-outs that GWAAC's crew responded to using one of their critical care cars increased by seven per cent when compared to the same period last year. The crew travelled to more than three-quarters of patients in a car rather than its EC135 helicopter.