Cornwall Air Ambulance’s crews flew 214 missions this summer

For the paramedics and pilots who crew Cornwall Air Ambulance, summer doesn’t mean quiet skies. Newly released figures show that in July and August alone, the Cornwall Air Ambulance crew was tasked to 214 missions across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

A busy two months

Of those 214 call-outs, 108 were trauma incidents, the single biggest category of the summer. A further 52 were medical incidents and 43 were cardiac arrests, moments where minutes matter most. The remaining 11 were inter-hospital transfers, moving patients between hospitals when a helicopter is the fastest or only practical option.

What keeps the crew flying

None of those missions happen without the public paying for them. Cornwall Air Ambulance says it’s the support of people across the county and the Isles of Scilly that lets the service respond every day of the year to those who are critically ill or injured, and the charity is asking for continued support to keep the crew in the air.

Eleven of those 214 missions never touched a field or a clifftop at all, just a patient moved from one hospital bed to another because a helicopter was the quickest way there.

📷Credit: Cornwall Air Ambulance