Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance records most successful public appeal after SOS campaign raised 'life-saving' sum

A nationwide public appeal to help Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) fund an increasing number of missions during its busiest summer months has raised more than £150,000.

As crews at the charity’s Perth and Aberdeen bases faced the challenge of an additional emergency every day in June, July and August, people responded in their thousands to help ensure the service was available for those most in need.

More than 2,200 individual donations of as much as £5,000 were received in what has been SCAA’s most successful public appeal since the charity launched in 2013.

Appeal co-ordinator Alex Gregg said the public response had been “lifesaving”.

“We have been blown away by the support of both new and existing donors who answered our SOS this summer,” he said. “On behalf of the crew and charity team at SCAA – and more especially the patients we attended - a sincere thank you to those who contributed to the appeal. 

“Each day of the summer saw SCAA respond to multiple call outs, with each one representing someone in need of urgent medical assistance. It is only thanks to the generosity of the public that our life-saving crews were able to respond to these time-critical emergencies.”

Alex explained that the response to the charity’s appeal for summer support had prompted giving from all across Scotland – from Shetland to The Borders and throughout the island communities.

“The whole country recognises the value of a charity which is there for everyone when injury or illness strikes,” he said. “Nobody in Scotland should die because help can’t reach them in time and the generosity of the public during our SOS appeal will help SCAA sustain its crucial life-saving service.”

SCAA responded to 310 call outs during June, July and August – traditionally the charity’s busiest months. This figure compares to 222 emergency responses during November, December and January.

A quarter of SCAA’s summer call outs were to road traffic collision emergencies – the focus of the charity’s SOS appeal, given the annual seasonal increase in RTCs on Scotland’s roads.

A third of the charity’s call outs during the past three months were at weekends, with June being the busiest month of the summer with 105 missions.

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