Mission Review

Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance operates two helicopter air ambulances - Helimed 76 based in Perth and Helimed 79 based in Aberdeen. Tasked through Scotland's 999 emergency response network, we often work with other first responder organisations to get people the help they need, including the Scottish Ambulance Service, Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue service and mountain rescue teams. Here are some of the call outs we've responded to recently.

SCAA recently flew to Glencoe in response to a medical emergency when a man reacted badly to a wasp sting. The patient’s allergic reaction was brought under control and he was left in the safe hands of a Scottish Ambulance Service road crew.

It was a race against the tide when SCAA landed on the beach at North Berwick to airlift a woman inured in a fall. The beach offered the best access to the patient who sustained leg injuries after being knocked over by a dog at a difficult-to-reach location. SCAA attended along with colleagues from the RNLI, HM Coastguard and the Scottish Ambulance Service and ensured the inured woman was safely airborne and on route to the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh before the rising waters caused any issue.

SCAA was refuelling at Clyde Heliport following the transfer of a patient from Arran to Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, when our crew was re-tasked to a medical emergency in Gairloch. Our air ambulance landed in a field at the remote location and airlifted a woman to Inverness Airport where a road ambulance took her the final few miles to hospital. SCAA’s involvement cut a potential road journey of two and a half hours to just 35 minutes by air.

SCAA was recently part of a multi-service emergency response when two men were injured in an industrial accident in Fife. SCAA paramedics joined crews from Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Police Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service’s SORT, Medic 1 and road ambulance at the building site before the injured men were taken to the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh.

SCAA recently landed just off the beach in Tentsmuir in Fife to attend to an injured cyclist who had fallen from his bike on one of the forest trails. SCAA paramedics worked with Scottish Ambulance Service road crew colleagues before the patient, who had leg injuries, was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

SCAA was recently part of a major emergency services rapid response to the Orkney island of South Ronaldsay when two people were injured in a road traffic collision involving a car and a motorcycle. SCAA’s Helimed 79 air ambulance deployed from Aberdeen with a specialist EMRS (Emergency Medical Retrieval Service) consultant-led team on board and joined HM Coastguard, Police Scotland, Scottish Ambulance Service and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crews at the scene. Both patients were then flown to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with the EMRS team on board.

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