Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) received a total of 1,808 call-outs
Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) received a total of 1,808 call-outs to people in urgent need across its region in 2022 which includes Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, and parts of Wiltshire.
GWAAC was tasked to 525 patients in Bristol; 143 of whom needed urgent care for an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest — the most common type of incident for the local air ambulance in Bristol.
Road traffic collisions were the second highest reason our crew was called to the area with 80 instances in 2022.
Tasked incidents to babies, children and teenagers in Bristol remained high at 14% of GWAAC’s total call-outs across the city. 2021 saw a significant increase in tasked incidents across GWAAC’s whole region to babies, children and teenagers in urgent need; dispatches to this age group had doubled from preceding years and the trend continued in 2022.
Overall, fifty-two percent of call-outs to Bristol were medical-related and 48% percent were trauma-related.
How GWAAC is helping people who suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
GWAAC attends more cardiac arrests than any other life-threatening emergency. In 2022, the crew responded to a total of 506 people suffering this medical emergency across all its regions.
Forrest Wheeler, needed the help of GWAAC when he suffered a cardiac arrest while competing in a local Park Run in 2017. Luckily for Forrest, he received immediate care from bystanders at the scene. The GWAAC crew then put him into an induced coma and rushed him to hospital. Forrest impressively completed his 100th Park Run in 2022. He said, “The GWAAC crew should give themselves a pat on the back for getting me to that milestone.”
Forrest completing his 100th Park Run
Forrest, who now gives volunteer talks for GWAAC, often begins his story with a startling statistic: “Approximately 83 other people in the UK suffered out-of-hospital cardiac arrests on that day in April! Seven of us survived to tell the tale.”
Sadly, 24-year-old Sam Polledri did not survive to tell his tale. Sam was surrounded by five defibrillators in and around Millennium Square where he collapsed in February last year, but none of them were accessible to the general public.
Sam Polledri
Sam is one of the reasons why your air ambulance charity is doing so much to help local communities respond to someone suffering a cardiac arrest.
Last year, GWAAC’s Great Western Heartstarters volunteers taught a record-breaking 6,469 people how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use a defibrillator — something that can make the difference between life and death for someone in cardiac arrest. The people trained included school pupils from years eight and nine, sports teams, and passers-by at events like the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.
If you would like to help increase someone’s chances of surviving a cardiac arrest, GWAAC can help you place a publicly accessible defibrillator on your building or street. Find out more about their all-in-one defibrillator package: https://greatwesternairambulance.com/what-we-do/aed/
GWAAC AED in memory of Sam Polledri
About GWAAC
The air ambulance and critical care service, which is charity funded, provides emergency medical care to the most seriously ill or injured in the region.
GWAAC’s crew of Critical Care Doctors, Advanced Practitioners and Specialist Paramedics bring the expertise of a hospital emergency department to the scene of an incident. These skills can make the difference between life and death. From roadside blood transfusions to performing emergency surgery to anaesthesia, the crew is specially trained to deliver pre-hospital emergency care to both children and adults.
The increasing demand for GWAAC’s service means the charity needs to raise over £4 million a year to remain operational, yet it receives no day-to-day funding from the Government or National Lottery, relying on the generosity and support from local communities.
“2022 was another busy year for GWAAC. Success stories like Forrest’s are wonderful to hear and it’s thanks to the skills of our crew and the generosity of everyone that supports us that we are able to help people having their worst day. Sadly, only 1 in 10 survive a cardiac arrest in the UK. We’re working really hard to improve this statistic by equipping bystanders with the knowledge and the tools (defibs) to provide that all-important immediate care.”
Anna Perry, CEO, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity.
If you’re passionate about people, curious about CPR and delighted by defibrillators, you might want to consider a career with GWAAC as a Defibrillator Coordinator — a new role to help educate people on the importance of publicly accessible defibrillators and get them into local communities.
For an overview of GWAAC in 2022, watch our short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5N8TOS3saQ
