Wiltshire's Air Ambulance had busiest year ever in 2020
The life-saving service has been revealing the kinds of call-outs they've dealt with
Throughout 2020, Wiltshire Air Ambulance was called out to a total of 1,238 missions - that's a record since the charity went standalone in 2015.
45% of the call-outs (568) were attended by the service's helicopter, with the rest (670) dealt with by their Rapid Response cars.
The figures from last year also reveal that WAA was called to the Salisbury area on 96 occasions - the equivalent of once every four days.
20 incidents were also attended across Amesbury, Tidworth, Tisbury and Mere.
David Philpott, chief executive of Wiltshire Air Ambulance, said:
"Our aircrew has continued to operate on the front line throughout the pandemic, responding to incidents during a very challenging year - and 2021 looks like being just as difficult.
"We had to alter our operations suitably to ensure we could still be there for the people of Wiltshire and surrounding areas.
"With all of our major events cancelled and community fundraising impacted by the pandemic, this has clearly had an effect on our income.
"That said, we have been taken aback by the response from our kind donors, who have surpassed all expectations for donations received in the past 12 months. For that, we are so grateful."
WHAT WAS WAA CALLED OUT TO?
The biggest proportion of their missions (31%) was to cardiac emergencies.
That's followed by other medical conditions like strokes and collapses (17%) and road traffic collisions (17%).
The number of falls attended during 2020 has risen compared to the year before, accounting for 14% of their calls.
Sporting injuries like horse riding incidents, and assaults, also feature in the list of reasons to be sent out.
July and August were the busiest months for the service, with 126 missions carried out in each month, with the quietest being April with 68 call-outs.