‘Life is for living’ says Wiltshire Air Ambulance specialist paramedic

We shouldn't be wrapping ourselves in bubble wrap but can still help to keep ourselves safe

Author: Aaron HarperPublished 8th Aug 2023

A specialist paramedic with the Wiltshire Air Ambulance says accidents happening is “one of those things”.

But with the summer holiday’s in full swing, drivers are being urged to ensure they’re in the right headspace on the roads this summer.

Data provided by the Air Ambulance showed an average of 21 callouts over the last three years in the months of July and August combined.

And while historically it’s mainly falls and cardiac arrest’s they are attending, this year in July, it was predominantly road traffic collisions (RTC).

Road users urged to ensure they're fit to drive

Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, Craig Wilkins, a specialist paramedic in critical care at Wiltshire Air Ambulance, said that the service see’s a change in demographic in the summer months.

“(We) see more young people that are out because they're not tucked behind a desk at school,” he said.

“They're doing activities that are adventurous and might be falling over and breaking limbs and all those sorts of things that we've done as young people that get us into a bit of bother.”

Craig added that there’s a larger volume of cars on the roads, meaning there is the “odd extra bump on the road” that crews are called out to.

He added that drivers should be trying to make sure they’re in the right headspace to be behind the wheel.

“It's quite important to take those breaks regularly and think ‘am I fit to be driving at the moment?’”

What to do if the Air Ambulance is landing near us

The county of Wiltshire is full of open spaces to enjoy and relax in, but that doesn’t mean we are always safe.

But what should we do if we see the Air Ambulance searching for a landing spot near us?

“What we don't want to do is blow your picnic over as we're coming into land,” Craig said, adding “But if we need somewhere to land, we'll normally circle a couple of times and we'll try and come down to about 100 feet in the hope that you get the idea that we're coming to join your party.”

We’re encouraged to move away until everything on the helicopter stops moving, at which point we are more than welcome to visit the pilot!

A little knowledge can save a life

We can help save a life by knowing basic first aid steps.

“Just having a little bit of knowledge is a really useful thing, just knowing how to stop the bleeding or how to open an airway can absolutely change our patient's outcome,” Craig said.

He added that without those first step, the crew are fighting an uphill battle to help the patient.

“If someone's in cardiac arrest, their chances of survival decrease by 10% every minute if someone isn't doing CPR.”

But Craig doesn’t want us to be wrapping ourselves in bubble wrap, saying: “Life is for living, after all. And I always say that on the side of it, an ambulance that says accident and emergency for a reason.”

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