I KNOW first hand just how beautiful Worcestershire is, as a flight paramedic based at Midlands Air Ambulance’s Strensham base I get to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the county on a daily basis.

Unfortunately the reason I get to take advantage of such picturesque views is because we’re responding to trauma and medical emergencies within the area.

Worcestershire happens to be one of our busiest regions.

Although we cover six counties across the Midlands, almost one-third of our missions take place in Worcestershire alone.

We undertake a broad range of missions from road traffic accidents, which make up a third of all our call outs in the county, to sporting injuries and falls.

In addition, we commonly attend horse riding accidents in Worcestershire as it’s a county rich in equestrian heritage.

Because of the county’s typically rural landscape, even though some accidents aren’t life threatening, we attend a great deal of incidents that land ambulances simply can’t get to.

As we’re able to fly the aircraft directly to the location of the accident, no matter how remote, we can airlift and transfer the patient to hospital within a matter of minutes.

On the flip side, where someone has been severely injured, it’s imperative we get them to a major trauma centre as quickly as possible.

You may have heard of the ‘Golden Hour’, which basically means if a patient reaches hospital within 60 minutes of the accident, their chances of survival are dramatically increased.

This is often the case for many of our Worcestershire missions, and as we’re able to take patients into the regional trauma network where their subsequent treatment plan is tailored to their injuries thus hopefully resulting in better outcomes.

It’s fair to say that no two days are ever the same and neither is the nature of each of the incidents.

I greatly enjoy working for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and would like to thank everyone across the region for their donations which help to keep our service in the skies.

For further information about Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, visit midlandsair ambulance.com or call the team on 0800 8402040