Treating 5,000 patients | This month’s thoughts

A lot can happen in three years. If you think back to life in October 2018, chances are things have changed quite a bit since then.

For us, that was when we became an independent healthcare provider. Since then, we’ve expanded, evolved, and adapted. From hiring our first Patient Liaison Manager, to becoming the first air ambulance to receive an ‘outstanding’ rating by the Care Quality Commission, to dealing with a global pandemic, PPE and a post-lockdown surge in call outs. Safe to say, we’ve been busy.

We now know exactly how busy. Over the last three years, our paramedics and doctors have treated 5,000 patients. To put this figure into context, that’s almost half the capacity of the Kassam Stadium, or around a third of the runners in the recent Reading Half Marathon.

Of the 5,000 patients treated, 1,855 were in Berkshire, 1,784 were in Buckinghamshire, and 1,202 were in Oxfordshire. 159 were from the surrounding areas.

The most common types of incidents were road traffic collisions, cardiac arrests, and accidental injuries, with over 1,000 patients falling into each of these three categories.

Reaching this milestone is a bittersweet moment for our team. We are all too aware that behind this impressive number are 5,000 real people, experiencing significant trauma.

Adam Panter, Chief Operating Officer

As Chief Operating Officer, I’m incredibly proud of our crew for helping so many people in our community. With the ability to perform procedures and administer drugs above and beyond those available on a traditional ambulance, our team really fight to give their patients the best chance of survival and recovery. Every day they bring hospital-level care wherever it is needed: to the roadside, the countryside, even into people’s homes.

But, as a paramedic myself, I also know that reaching this milestone is a bittersweet moment for our team. We are all too aware that behind this impressive number are 5,000 real people, experiencing significant trauma. That’s why we are so committed to providing ongoing support to former patients, their loved ones and even bystanders through our aftercare service.

We might have reached a landmark in our delivery of critical care, but our journey continues. When you need us, we will be with you every step of the way.