The East Anglian Air Ambulance - which provides services across Bedfordshire record busiest July in history
The life-saving service responded to hundreds of calls last month.
Last updated 23rd Aug 2021
July 2021 was the East Anglian Air Ambulance's (EEEA) busiest month in over four years and their busiest ever July.
The charity's two teams are based in Norwich and Cambridge. They cover Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire and were called out 266 this July.
That's a 16% jump on their number of operations in June.
The top three reasons for calling the EEEA were; medical emergencies, cardiac arrests and major accidents
Matthew Jones, CEO of EAAA told us the main reason's for July 2021 being the charity's busiest on record, is down to more people staying local during the summer and the organisation becoming a 24/7 service for the first time ever.
Nevertheless, Mr. Jones says July's demand on the charity looks to be continuing in August: "The signs in August so far is that the rate of call-out is probably very similar to July. July's call-outs averaged at around eight times a day for our crews.
"I think that rate will continue during the rest of the summer".
Mr. Jones told us that the main reason that the charity are able to accommodate a surge in demand and successfully transition to a 24/7 service is due to the public's donations during the pandemic.