A presentation by Robert Bruce, 11th June 2025
Bob’s introduction told us of his former career which included service in the Army’s Special Air Force (SAS) during which he served as a pilot in the Falklands and the Gulf. He is now a volunteer speaker keen to spread information about the Air Ambulance Service to as many people as possible as the organisation is completely reliant on charitable contributions to fund the £10 million or more it costs to run annually. It was a consolation to learn that the one advantage to not having government funding is that the organisation has control and allocation of resources – government funding does have a tendency to be cut or redirected. We were assured that all public contributions are used directly for service provision.
The Great North East Ambulance Service (GNEAAS) covers 10,000 square miles of the Northeast, Cumbria and the Isle of Man from two sites. Eaglescliffe (Teeside) and Langwathby (Penrith). The emergency responses are co-ordinated from the air desk at Eaglescliffe. This operates a 24 hour monitoring of all 999 calls and liaises with other emergency services as needed.
The fleet of 3 top of the range Dauphin N3 and Dauphin N3+ helicopters are manned by a highly trained Critical Care team composing of a doctor, paramedic and pilot/driver. They carry any emergency equipment that would be available in an A&E Department, “We will bring the hospital Casualty Department to you.” Every call out, whether by helicopter during the daylight hours or car at night arrives at the scene of the accident within 20 minutes. There are over 2,500 call outs a year at a daily operating cost of over £30,000.
Other valuable services the GNEAAS offer are courses in pre-hospital medicine covering emergency anaesthesia and an emergency medicine crew course. This attracts applicants worldwide and provides a welcome income. New courses are being developed.
Bob told us of the many ways the public can help, not just by donating financially but collecting clothing and having other fundraising events. Please see the GNEAAS website for further information.
Bob’s presentation included 4 videos showing aspects of the work of the service including two case studies. This together with the knowledge of the costs involved was sobering however Bob’s entertaining presentation ensured that there were were many laughs along the way.
Sandra Y Gann