'Flying' paramedics in jet suits could be saving lives by this summer

  • Footage from Gravity Industries, filmed during a test flight in 2020

Paramedics in potentially life-saving jet suits could be fully operational in the Lake District as soon as this summer.

The technology, designed and built by Gravity Industries, has been in the works for almost five years.

It allows emergency responders to 'fly' to casualties, slashing response times.

In a recent test by the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), a paramedic was able to reach the top of Helvellyn mountain - a 750 metre climb which would normally take around an hour on foot - in just three minutes.

The 'world's first jet suit paramedic' unveiled in the Lake District

Inventor Richard Browning said: "Our drive for creating the suit came from wanting to challenge what seemed like the impossible and to now see it being used for areas of Special Forces mobility and First Response Search & Rescue, it’s very exciting."

Speaking about the project in 2021, Andy Mawson from the Great North Air Ambulance Service said: "Our team are blessed with a lot of time together and we have a really open culture which allows people to express ideas.

"As wonderful and as wacky as they might be, it means that every now and again it is a little bit like shooting stars, where one of them lands and we go oh that could really work.

"This sounds awful but after more than ten years of flying around the skies in helicopters and driving rapid response cars on blue lights, the excitement of it doesn’t excite me as much as the idea of using a jet suit and being able to say to the first patient, I bet you never expected that."

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) revealed the project in 2020

Listen to ITV News' What You Need To Know podcast: