Jan Hunter is impressed by the work of a life-saving charity that needs everybody's help to keep it airborne

“PEOPLE should be proud when they look up in the sky and see the Great North Air Ambulance,” says Jim Entwistle of the charity which runs the service. He wasn’t just meaning the sight of a white helicopter with the distinctive green and yellow stripes on it; he was also referring to the £4.5m needed every year to keep this essential service aloft – a terrific sum that is supplied solely by public donations.

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a registered charity which is called out on average 800 times per year, from the east coast to the west, from the Scottish borders through the Lake District to North Yorkshire.

Its three helicopters can reach where road ambulances cannot, landing in almost all weather conditions. But the incident doesn’t have to be in a remote location – the service can be called to town centre traffic accidents, and can use its rapid response ground vehicles to perform life-saving procedures at the scene.

Once an emergency call is received, a decision is made as to which service can reach the scene quickest and safest. In remote areas or in bad conditions when land crew cannot get through, the GNAAS is called out. On board is a paramedic, a doctor and the pilot.

All GNAAS doctors possess vital advance clinical skills. They specialise in emergency care and some are consultant anaesthetists – this is what makes the service unique as they are able to perform roadside surgery, which includes open heart or amputation. Just providing an anaesthetic gives immediate pain relief, reduces the risk of a secondary brain injury caused by agitation, and ensures that the patient is ready for surgery, sometimes just 40 minutes after the crew has reached the scene.

A recent initiative has meant that the crews now carry blood on board so transfusions can be given at the scene – 60 transfusions were carried out in the first 12 months of the project, and some of these critically ill patients went on to make complete recoveries.

A few weeks ago, GNAAS began carrying plasma on board which helps the blood to clot, further increasing people’s chances of survival where there is heavy blood loss.

Jamie Walsh, one of GNAAS’ ten paramedics, explains how the service works. “In remote areas such as the Lake District,” he says, “the Mountain Rescue services are often called out first. If they cannot walk the injured party down the mountain or their injuries are more serious, we will airlift them, give them pain relief and take them to the nearest hospital.

“If very serious we will take them to the nearest major trauma centre, such as the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough.”

“We have two bases, one at Durham Tees Valley Airport, and one at Langwathby near Penrith. Often we liaise with the police, fire brigade and other ambulance crews at the scene on the best way of treating the patient. The SARCALL [Search and Rescue information] website is always live at our base.”

Marcus Johnson, a paramedic, has only been working with GNAAS for three weeks and loves the job, enjoys the challenge and the feeling that the crew can make a difference in a life or death situation.

“Speed is essential,” he says. “As soon as we get the call, the pilot starts the aircraft, the doctor and the paramedic get the grid reference and we head out. At the scene we have to make a decision on how critically injured the patient is and what to do next.”

John Evans, a 45-year-old IT specialist from Darlington, owes his life to GNAAS. In January, he fell from his bike in snowy conditions when he hit a cattle grid at speed, suffering severe facial and neck injuries in the remote area of Langdale Beck Upper Teesdale. He was flown to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, a flight which took just 13 minutes as opposed to one hour and twenty minutes by road.

His brother, Patrick, says: “If it wasn’t for the quick response and treatment by GNAAS, my brother would have died.” Patrick has so far raised £3,350 for the charity by completing the gruelling bike ride his brother was training for.

David Clarke, 56 from Redmire near Leyburn, was rescued from a remote area of cliffs after being knocked down by a cow. Mr Clarke suffered six broken ribs and a punctured lung and was flown to James Cook University hospital in 11 minutes, a journey of an hour by road.

Mr Clarke made a full recovery and now in his bed-and-breakfast makes jams and marmalades to raise money for the GNAAS. He says: “The aircrew were excellent. They scanned my chest and ribs before they took me to hospital. They couldn’t have done any more for me.”

Jim Entwistle, head of media at GNAAS, is frequently asked why the Government does not financially support such essential work. He always points out that although the charity welcomes any support, its independence gives freedom from bureaucracy and reduces exposure to departmental cuts.

“By harnessing the support of the public we were able to ride out the recession,” he says. “We have been very fortunate that over the past 10 years as we have had uninterrupted financial support. However, we are not sitting on huge stockpiles, and we don’t employ fund-raising agencies. We need to raise £4.5m per year to keep this service going.”

There are many ways in which the public can help this service, through volunteering, fundraising, collections and raising awareness. They can get in touch via the website or by contacting 0132 5487263.

“We never take the public support for granted,” says Mr Entwistle.

And as members of the public, whose lives they save, neither should we.