Thursday, 08 August 2019 00:00

Norfolk Nurses to take on coastal trek to help EAAA

Written by  Katherine Lawson-Phillips
Rate this item
(1 Vote)
Image credit East Anglian Air Ambulance. Image credit East Anglian Air Ambulance.

On Sunday 8 September hundreds of hardy walkers will take on either a 24 mile or 24 kilometre coastal walk along the North Norfolk Coast in aid of the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA), with both routes finishing at Holkham Hall. 

The ‘Four for 24’ group is made up of four Norfolk nurses who have all had experience working at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital: Louise Langham-Hill, Natasha Pickett, Clare Johnson, and Bev Macfarlane (in the picture from left to right) . 

This team know first-hand how important the air ambulance is in getting seriously ill or injured patients to them as quickly as possible and are taking on the 24 kilometre walking challenge to support the charity’s mission to expand their service to fly 24 hours a day. 

Bev MacFarlane, ex ED nurse at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and current nurse at Cromer Hospital, said: “Supporting EAAA is very close to our hearts. All of us are ED nurses or ex-ED nurses so we have seen first-hand the benefit EAAA gives to patients who have suffered a life-threatening incident or medical emergency. Personally, my husband was knocked off his bicycle in an accident and taken to Addenbrooke’s by EAAA, so I am proud to take part in Trek 24 and do my part to raise funds for this vital charity”.

 

Trek 24 is a brand new fundraising event which has been created as part of the charity’s fundraising drive for EAAA’s Mission 24/7 – to fly their Anglia One helicopter from Norwich 24 hours a day. So far over 200 people are signed up to take part, and tickets for the event can still be purchased until 31 August.

Currently the helicopter flies from Norwich between 7am and 7pm. The charity’s expert doctors and paramedics already work 24/7, with the night shift provided via rapid response vehicle. By flying 24/7, the charity estimate they will be able to attend up to 600 more missions a year then they currently do, flying all over East Anglia, not just in Norfolk.

To do this, EAAA need to raise an additional £1 million a year – on top of the £12 million they already need to keep their helicopters flying and saving lives – and aim to be operational 24/7 by helicopter in 2020 - becoming the first air ambulance charity in the East of England to do so.

Leanne Kershaw, EAAA Events Fundraiser, said: “It’s vitally important to have a night-time helicopter service in the area, especially in rural Norfolk where it can take so long to get around by car. We’ve designed this event to support our mission 24/7 and have been really impressed with the number of people who have already signed up to take part and will be supporting us next month.

“Seeing teams like these lovely ladies entering is really special and we can’t wait to see a sea of blue EAAA supporters taking over the North Norfolk coastline next month. We hope that passers-by on the day will help to cheer these amazing walkers on!”.

For more information, go to www.eaaa.org.uk

Anglia_One_Crew.JPG

 

Last modified on Thursday, 08 August 2019 21:39
Published in Norfolk Charities & Fundraisers
Tagged under

Related items

  • EAAA listed as 7th in the top 100 not-for-profit companies in the UK to work for
    in Norfolk Charities & Fundraisers
    By

    East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) listed as 7th in the top 100 not-for-profit companies in the UK to work for, as part of the Sunday Times’ Best Companies To Work For listing. They also went from receiving a one star to a three star rating in the year’s listing – which means they have received ‘extraordinary levels of engagement’ from their staff.

    The placing and rating of companies is based solely on staff survey feedback results, and as such is down to employee satisfaction within each organisation.

    EAAA is a helicopter emergency medical service provider covering East Anglia, with offices in Norwich, Ipswich, Cambridge, Melbourn and Peterborough. They provide a 365-day-a-year life-saving service, taking an expert crew consisting of a doctor, a critical care paramedic and two pilots directly to patients who have suffered life-threatening or life-changing accidents or medical emergencies. The clinical crew are supported by charity staff, consisting of a number of teams including; fundraising, operations, communications, HR and executive teams.

  • East Anglian Air Ambulance launch campaign to become a 24/7 service
    in Norfolk Charities & Fundraisers
    By

    East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) has launched an ambitious plan to become a 24/7 helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) provider by 2020. The charity currently operates 365-days-a-year but not 24-hours-a-day, meaning that if an incident happened between midnight and 07:00 there is currently no HEMS provision in the region. The charity is aiming to cover this gap and become a full 24/7 HEMS service by 2020. To do that they need to raise an additional £1 million a year to fund the operation.

    The type of incidents the charity attend – serious road traffic collisions, cardiac arrests, traumatic injuries and other medical emergencies - do not stop when their crew go offline. While a 24/7 service seemed to make sense, the charity needed to be sure, so have been gathering evidence to prove it. They worked with the East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST), who task them, to review incidents over the course of a year where critical care was required but unavailable. They also assessed the need first-hand by trialling an overnight service via rapid response vehicle (RRV) four days a week from the Norwich base. The results of this work confirmed a significant region-wide need for overnight critical care, particularly in rural Norfolk. In the first twelve months of the overnight trial they attended 220 missions, but they say that with the helicopter they could do so much more.

  • Help East Anglian Air Ambulance keep families together this Christmas
    in Norfolk Charities & Fundraisers
    By

    East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) has today launched their ‘Together This Christmas’ campaign. After saving the life of three-year-old Annabel earlier in the year, the charity has asked people to consider giving a little extra over the festive period to bring more patients like Annabel home to their families for Christmas.

    On 9 February 2018 EAAA’s Anglia Two crew was tasked at 09.49 to a three-year-old girl named Annabel, who had sadly suffered a cardiac arrest at her pre-school. pilots Olly Gates and Gav Blake flew the team of Dr Victor Inyang, Dr Jon Barratt and Critical Care Paramedic Chris Neil directly to her side, arriving just 17 minutes after receiving the call. Despite a successful resuscitation by the fantastic pre-school team, Annabel was deeply unconscious and her airway was compromised. 

More in this category: « Fin-tastic! EACH opens 40th shop in Sheringham Children’s author on charity’s ‘fantastic’ free books for kids scheme »
back to top