New volunteers needed for air ambulance support group

Our vision is clear. We want children to grow into adults, we want adults to live longer and we want bereavement through trauma to become rare.

The Children’s Air Ambulance is our national service, flying critically ill children from one hospital to another for specialist care. We are the first and only dedicated paediatric helicopter emergency transfer service in the country. The bespoke, specialist equipment on board our helicopter provides a flying intensive care unit for children. When a child is too sick to fly, we fly a specialist team to them. With flight times commonly over four times quicker than transfer by road, in many cases, time saved is a life saved. This year we will have two helicopters running this service, creating two new air bases.

During the day we fly two local air ambulance services and at night we have two rapid response vehicles serving a total of five counties.

These two helicopters and two rapid response cars provide quick response to trauma and medical emergencies. With an average response of just 13 minutes, between them they attend around ten missions a day.

I have been volunteering with the service for over five years and it continues to be an amazing journey of meeting people and hearing their stories; as we raise funds and awareness within the Amber Valley community and across Derbyshire. Over the years with people’s kind support we have been able to develop and improve our service, skills and equipment.

Volunteering with the air ambulance doesn’t just give you a warm feeling, it also gives you new skills, new friends and new opportunities. It’s people like you who keep us flying. Whether you are giving your time or your expertise, we need you as part of our team.

It is really easy to get involved. You could join the Belper and Matlock District Air Ambulance Supporters Group. We meet at 12pm, at The Millhouse, Derby Road, Milford, Belper. The dates for 2017 are 02/05/17, 08/08/17 and 07/11/17. We are a small but vibrant group looking for new volunteers who have a few hours to spare each month to take part in a variety of fundraising activities. If you enjoy meeting people and you would like to raise money for a highly regarded charity at the same time, come along and meet us to find out more – no obligation.

If you would like to hold an event, support us with a collection tin or would like a talk on our service, volunteer for us or you want to come to our next meeting please give us a call on 08454 130999 and quote reference BMDSG to book your place or if you wish to support us or make a donation, please email [email protected]