Air ambulance appeals for night landing sites
The charity's looking for sports clubs who can help them with spaces to land in darkness
Cornwall Air Ambulance has issued a plea for night time landing sites.
They're appealing to sports clubs across the Duchy, who can provide a space for its helicopter to land on emergency missions.
There are already 30 ‘pre-surveyed’ locations being used across Cornwall which the crew can launch to within just five minutes, but it wants more options for places to land in darkness.
Chief Pilot at Cornwall Air Ambulance, Captain Adam Smith, said: “During the day we aim to launch to taskings in under five minutes as we can ‘see’ the scene and select a suitable landing spot when overhead.
"During the hours of darkness, flying a helicopter becomes a greater challenge and having increased pre-surveyed site options will help save us up to 15 minutes of planning time, which can make a crucial difference in a patient’s outcome.”
“The most reliable type of site is anywhere really that has a good clear landing area such as a sports pitch, whether that be football, rugby, or cricket, and it needs to be accessible overnight.
“I believe there to be around 500 sports pitches for example in Cornwall, if we could get 1/5 of these to sign up as landing sites, this would triple our current offering.”
If you are a sports pitch owner and are keen to support Cornwall Air Ambulance in this way, please contact Andrew ‘Alf’ Evans, Head of Operations, at andrew@cornwallairambulancetrust.org or call 01637 889926.