Demand on Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance continues to rise

Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance took to the air a record number of times in 2023 as demand on our life-saving emergency response service continues to grow.

Our helicopter air ambulances took to the air 718 times in response to serious illness and injury throughout Scotland, marking a 3% increase on the previous year.

Figures just released show that in addition to providing vital air support, SCAA deployed paramedics a further 230 times using their Rapid Response Vehicles to attend incidents close to their bases.

Marking its 10th anniversary in 2023, SCAA is a valued integral part of Scotland's emergency response network, playing a vital role in getting paramedics and specialist teams quickly to the scene of serious illness and injury, providing life-saving care in the air and transferring patients onwards to appropriate hospitals.

Throughout the past year, SCAA crews were quickly on scene at crises throughout the whole of Scotland and its many islands, tending the seriously sick and injured and flying or escorting a total of 389 patients to definitive hospital care.

Of those airlifted patients, around 65% were flown to one of the country’s four Major Trauma Centres at Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The speed of SCAA’s helicopters was also used on 146 occasions to airlift advanced critical care teams to the scene, effectively bringing the skills of a hospital’s Accident and Emergency unit to the incident.

In addition to airlifting patients to hospital, SCAA's paramedics were at hand to treat and assist in a further 340 cases ranging from major multi-casualty trauma incidents to single patient illnesses.

During 2023, trauma injuries continued to dominate the charity’s workload, accounting for 35% of all call outs. Of these, the majority were to road traffic collisions, with accidents involving cars increasing by 17% on the previous year.

Responding to emergencies all over Scotland saw SCAA’s flying hours increase in 2023, rising from over 700 in 2022 to more than 722 last year. Accordingly, the miles flown by SCAA’s two charity-funded air ambulances during the year rose to nearly 100,000.

SCAA has also seen a sharp increase in the number of emergency call outs to stroke patients with numbers rising by 63% during 2023. The number of cardiac related call outs attended also rose with 200 such emergencies recorded during 2023.

A total of 122 missions involved air transfers from remote and island communities to advanced mainland hospital care where hours were saved on journey times for vulnerable patients. SCAA impacted on the outcomes for both sick and injured from the islands of The Hebrides and Orkney to Aberdeenshire and The Borders.

Throughout 2023, SCAA flew life-saving missions to all of Scotland’s 14 health board areas apart from Shetland – with Grampian, Tayside and Highlands accounting for the majority. The emergency response helicopters’ busiest month was August, and the most in-demand days of the week were Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Now in our 11th year of operation, SCAA Chief Executive David Craig said the latest figures show the critical role the charity plays in the country’s emergency pre-hospital care network.

“Scotland now relies heavily on SCAA to help save and improve countless lives in time-critical situations,” he said.

“The demand on our air ambulances has never been greater and our crews work tirelessly to ensure they deliver their life-saving service, wherever and whenever the need arises.

“The fact that nearly one in seven of our airlifted patients were flown to one of the country's four Major Trauma Centres shows the high-acuity trauma our crews are dealing with," added David.

“And while trauma emergencies continue to dominate, this year’s upsurge in stroke and cardiac cases highlights the value of getting expert care as quickly as possible to the patient.

"Thousands of patients across the whole of Scotland and its many islands owe their life to the fast intervention of SCAA," he said.

“The remote and rural geography of Scotland means that many communities are far from land ambulance cover and hospital care,” added David. “The increasing value of helicopter support is a lifeline to such communities and SCAA is proud to be there for those most in need when illness or injury strikes.”

David also thanked the fundraising public who ensured SCAA was online 12 hours a day, 365 days of the year, at both Aberdeen and Perth bases throughout 2023.

"Even in these challenging times, our amazing supporters continue to keep the charity in their hearts, with their ongoing generosity enabling SCAA to fly to the aid of more people throughout the whole of Scotland than ever before.

“With their continued support, we will be able to fly SCAA into the future and ensure our life-saving service stays in the air for thousands more when they need us most.”