Air Ambulance Over the Dengie

Researching the information for this story was a real pleasure for me, as I have been fascinated by all forms of aircraft and flying since I was a child. The story begins with a request to Cliff Gale, Operations manager at the Air Ambulance administrative HQ at Earls Colne. I was given the green light to visit Boreham airfield, which is the operational base of the Air Ambulance and also the Police helicopter. The original control tower continues to serve as an office base for both helicopter crews. During WW2 Boreham was home to American flyers that operated Maurders, twin-engine medium bombers. A memorial stands at the gates commemorating those who lost their lives in the defence of this country.


I arrived at 8:30am and met Dave Surtees the senior pilot and Steve Dennehy and Damian Sherman the two duty paramedics. Everyone was very helpful and informative. I accompanied Dave while he was performing his daily inspection on the helicopter, this is before it emerges from the hangar. The first job is to check for water content in the fuel, two samples are taken and analysed, all was in order and we moved on to a visual walk around, checking air intakes and exhausts, rotors and Electronic flight information system (EFIS ) While this was being carried out the paramedics were checking the on board life support equipment and medical kit. Finally weather and visibility were assessed and the pilot gave a crew briefing. Once all the checks have been completed a message is sent to HQ, declaring the helicopter ready for operations and it is pulled out on a trolley and placed on the pad. The crew then await instructions from ambulance HQ before embarking on a mission.
A HEMS mission would be where a casualty had stopped breathing or has suffered a heart attack, in other words a life threatening condition, where time is a critical factor, or where access would be difficult or impossible for a road vehicle. In general land ambulances are used for more routine cases where time is less critical.
The helicopter is owned and operated by Bond Air Services and leased to the Air Ambulance Service, with a pilot. The paramedics work for the NHS and are trained to work as aircrew as well as paramedics. The left seat person would also act as observer and offer navigational assistance, looking out for power lines trees and other flight hazards.
The helicopter is a built by Eurocopters based in Munich and costs £3,2 million. With an airspeed of 145kts it can fly from Boreham to Burnham in 8 minutes. Night operations are not flown because of obvious hazards of landing and taking off. Good visibility is essential for safe operation. With annual operating costs of £1.2million, it is easy to see why it needs constant funding to keep it flying. Fortunately, it is a very well supported charity and many fund rising events are held to maintain its operation.
Typically around a 1000 missions are flown annually. From July to September this year 607 missions have been flown and 397 people have been taken to hospital. A good number of these missions have been over the Dengie peninsula and around the Burnham area. Although I did not manage to get airborne on this occasion, I am hopeful of doing so in the near future.
Burnham has it own Air Ambulance charity shop. Flying High is at 72 Station Road where it has recently re-opened due to expansion.

Steve Gallant