Wales Air Ambulance marks 25 years since first flight on St David’s Day 2001
Wales Air Ambulance is marking 25 years since its first flight, after launching on St David’s Day in 2001.
The charity began with a single helicopter operating five days a week and has grown into a 24/7 service with four helicopters and a fleet of rapid response vehicles.
More than 56,000 missions have been carried out since that first flight a quarter of a century ago.
It costs £13 million a year to keep the service running, funded entirely by public donations.
Dr Sue Barnes, the charity’s chief executive, said: “Wales Air Ambulance was created by the people of Wales, for the people of Wales.
“You are a big part of this Welsh success story, helping us grow into the world-class service it is today.
“It costs £13 million each year to keep our helicopters in the sky and rapid response vehicles on the road.
“We cannot do what we do without your generosity and kindness.”
The service is now consultant-led and delivers what the charity describes as hospital-standard care at the scene of an emergency, including anaesthesia, blood transfusions and minor operations.
It is run through a partnership between the charity, which funds the aircraft and vehicles, and the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS), which supplies NHS consultants and critical care practitioners.
Mark Winter, operations director for EMRTS, was a medic on the very first mission in 2001.
He said: “Being on the first aircraft to take off, and the camaraderie among the first crew to make it work, is among my highlights.
“If anyone had said at the launch event for Wales Air Ambulance Charity that in 25 years, we would have four aircraft covering the whole of Wales, working overnight, with the most advanced interventions, I wouldn’t have believed them.”
Lead consultant Dr Ami Jones, who was awarded an MBE in 2017 for her contributions to military and civilian pre-hospital critical care, has worked with the service for over ten years.
She said: “As a doctor, you often treat one patient at a time.
“But being part of the team that helped set up the development of the consultant-led service in 2015 was a great privilege.
“You touch every single patient via your colleagues because if the service had not been put in place, no one would be receiving the care.”
Joanna Hicks was on holiday in Pembrokeshire when she got into difficulty swimming at Newgale Beach.
She was caught in a rip current and given a 1% survival rate after being rescued, spending 10 days fighting for her life in hospital.
She said: “I cannot thank these amazing, truly impressive people enough.
“Without the Wales Air Ambulance, I really would not be here today to tell the tale.”
The charity said it would be marking the anniversary throughout the year.
Dr Barnes added: “Our silver anniversary deserves a moment of reflection, but equally, it is an opportunity to look to the future.
“We have a duty to the people of Wales to improve our service and ensure its security for our future generations.”
Wales Air Ambulance relies on donations, lottery subscriptions, fundraising and its charity shops to meet its £13 million annual costs.
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