Wiltshire Air Ambulance aiming to fund flying doctor for a year
The charity's looking for our help during the Big Give Christmas Challenge
Wiltshire's Air Ambulance is hoping we'll help them to keep a flying doctor on their team for the next year - through our support over the next week.
The charity's taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge once again, from today (Tuesday 28th November) to 5th December.
That'll see all donations made to the cause during the campaign being doubled - with a target of £35,000 for the week.
Last year's efforts managed to fund critical care doctor Jonathan Holme for a whole year, with hopes to secure another year of his services on the life-saving service.
Jonathan started volunteering with the charity in April 2021 and through the success of last year’s Big Give Christmas Challenge, has been working two shifts per week for 2023. He says:
“By having doctors on board, Wiltshire Air Ambulance is offering additional skills and experience of working in an emergency resuscitation room and bringing that treatment about half an hour earlier to the patient.
“We can anesthetise the patient at the scene and understand the next stages of patient care in a hospital setting, ensuring we take the patient to the correct onward point.”
Jonathan also works as an emergency medicine consultant at the Royal United Hospital in Bath. He added:
“Through my work at the RUH, I had seen first-hand some of the fantastic work that Wiltshire Air Ambulance carries out across Wiltshire, Bath and surrounding areas.
“I came to realise that being able to achieve that service in a pre-hospital environment really epitomised to me what it means to provide critical care to patients.
“It’s a real privilege to work at the cutting edge of critical care with such a highly skilled team making a huge difference across the region. I can’t think of anything else I’d want to do more.”
Ben Abbott, air operations officer and critical care paramedic at Wiltshire Air Ambulance, said:
“Our critical care paramedics are very highly trained. However, some of the most complex emergency interventions at the scene now require a doctor to be present. These interventions can significantly improve outcomes. By flying with a doctor we can bring these vital top level skills to our patients.”
This week's donations to Wiltshire Air Ambulance will also be match funded from the Wiltshire Match Fund, with further pledges from Castle Combe Circuit, the Andrew Smiley Trust, Ridge Coffee Club and Melksham Ltd.
You can find out more about the challenge on the Wiltshire Air Ambulance website.