MIKE HEDGES MS VISITS WALES AIR AMBULANCE BASE IN LLANELLI

MIKE HEDGES MS VISITS WALES AIR AMBULANCE BASE IN LLANELLI

Swansea East MS Mike Hedges visited the Air Ambulance Base in Llanelli as part of his program of visiting groups and organisations who work in or with people from his constituency during the Senedd Recess. Mike met with Senior Management Team of Wales Air Ambulance at their Llanelli base for a discussion about their work and how it helps people right across South Wales.

The discussions covered the operation of the service, examples of the where the ambulances had been used to move people from difficult to reach locations and where the fast transfer of patients to major hospitals has saved lives and enabled faster specialist treatment. Discussion also covered the funding required to run the service; currently Wales Air Ambulance requires just over £8 million to run its 24 hour service.  All of the money has to be raised through the work of the fund raising team and volunteers.

Following the meeting, Mike Hedges said… ‘ The work of the Wales Air Ambulance is simply fantastic and none of us know when we may need  its services. I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the work of everyone associated with the service from the pilots, the teams who maintain the helicopters, the medical staff who attend to patients, and also the volunteers who help with all of the fund raising efforts to keep the service going.

I would like to urge everyone to chip in if they see any fundraising effort for the Air Ambulance, it really is one of the best causes you can give to.

After todays visit, I will look with renewed admiration when I see the Air Ambulance going to and from Morriston Hospital near my home.

Note

Launched on St. David’s Day 2001, the Wales Air Ambulance (WAA) Charity is the official air ambulance service for Wales. It provides air cover to relieve illness and injury across the country.

WAA is the only air ambulance charity based in, and dedicated to, Wales and relies entirely on donations to keep the helicopters flying.

The Charity has four helicopters in total. The operations in Caernarfon, Welshpool and Llanelli are focused on 999 emergencies.

In addition to the three aircraft mentioned above, a specialist transfer helicopter operates from Cardiff Heliport supporting inter-hospital transfers over distances longer than one-hour by road. Known as the Children’s Wales Air Ambulance, it assists neonatal and paediatric transfer teams, however, it is also used for the transfer of adults.

All the medical crews across Wales are coordinated by the Critical Care Hub, based at the Welsh Ambulance Service Clinical Contact Centre in Cwmbran and staffed by a clinical dispatch team.