Emergency helicopter could get critically ill islanders to UK hospitals within an hour

Currently, the average time from tasking to delivering a patient into hospital is four hours. Credit: Air Rescue Channel Islands

A new charity is hoping to run an emergency helicopter to get critically ill islanders directly to UK hospitals within an hour.

Air Rescue Channel Islands was set up by Andrew Scott-Miller, a coastguard with extensive experience in the charity sector, and Mark Birrell, a full-time firefighter with previous helicopter winch experience.

Despite both Jersey and Guernsey having fixed wing air ambulance aeroplanes which provide medical transfers, the charity say there has been a huge increase in the use of UK Coastguard helicopters across the islands in the last year, with around 30 being required this year.

The charity also say the average time to deliver a patient into hospital is 4 hours, and they hope a locally-based helicopter on standby 24 hours a day can shorten this.

The operator of the helicopter is likely to be one of the two largest providers of air ambulances in the UK, with extensive experience operating at night and in challenging conditions.

Air rescue hope to have a helicopter based on the islands by the Summer and are working with health departments in Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney, ready to provide urgent medivacs across the islands and looking to restore the 24/7 medivacs from Alderney to Guernsey, which ceased earlier this year.

As well as providing medivacs, Air Rescue could carry out multiple roles for a range of Emergency Services, such as repatriating islanders who have had extensive procedures in the UK to remove the difficulty of travelling through airports with oxygen cylinders or limbs in plaster.

Further future roles include search and rescue at sea, assisting Police with missing person searches and the ability to fight furze fires from the air.

The charity now needs to raise £1.5 million to get he service in the air, and will also be looking for volunteers to carry out roles such as in-flight medics, off airfield landing safety teams in each island and various operational roles within the running of the charity.

More information can be found here.