Thames Valley air ambulance upgrades facilities

Thames Valley Air Ambulance has given Greatest Hits Radio special access to their new education centre and ground operations base.

For the first time the charity has been able to combine them with the team at their headquarters in Stokenchurch. It means that almost all of the organisation is now together under one roof.

As well as bespoke training facilities the ground base enables crews to relax and prepare properly.

Critical care paramedic James Perks says the facilities are impressive:

"Within the space we've got an immersive suite very realistic hi-fidelity resuscitation room we've got a living room and then also some skills rooms and some lecture theatres etc where people can practise those isolated elements of the job."

He says they even have a refection room they can use after particularly difficult missions:

"We're all human something will trigger with one of us so it's good to have that space where if you just need some time you can take that time or you can chat with a colleague."

Chief Executive Officer Amanda McLean has told us constant training for the critical care team is essential:

"They need to be really confident and we need to do everything we can to make sure the crew can respond appropriately, it's a tough thing we ask them to do so it's important we do everything we can to prepare them for that so they can give the best possible patient care."

She adds that the new facilities are already showing their worth:

"It's been a really, really big advantage you know in the past we had everything operational and kind of the back end and the charity and the fundraising very separate. Now it's allowed us to bring lots more together which has been really important."

Although most of TVAA is now together in one place the all important helicopter and its crew can't be in Stokenchurch - they remain based a few miles away at RAF Benson in south Oxfordshire.

However the ground operations base means all of the charity's critical care response vehicles are based at - and co-ordinated - from Stokenchurch.

It's the 25th anniversary year of the charity and a special party is planned in June to celebrate with supporters.

You can find out more about TVAA here

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