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
Dr Pam Chrispin is retiring from East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) after 14 years with the life-saving charity and an incredible forty-year-medical-career.
Pam’s contributions to healthcare across East Anglia have been enormous, and she has proudly ‘kicked the door down for women’ along the way, becoming EAAA’s first ever female flying doctor in 2007, back when all of EAAA’s doctors were volunteers. In that time, Pam has helped to shape EAAA into the leading air ambulance service that it is today.
In 2016 Pam was one of the first doctors to be formally employed by EAAA and in 2018 became EAAA’s first Deputy Medical Director, a post she will hold up until her retirement on 31st January, following a highly distinguished career.
East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) is reflecting on a busy 2021 and feeling ever thankful for its incredible community of supporters after the recent success of its Christmas campaign, Gift of Life.
Launched in mid-November, the Gift of Life campaign asked EAAA supporters to donate to the 24/7 air ambulance charity this Christmas, to help the crews continue to be there for people in their darkest hour over the festive period.
The campaign also encouraged supporters to send a message of support for the crews which could be hung on a Christmas tree in each of the EAAA operational bases, one in Norwich and one in Cambridge, to help give all of the EAAA staff a morale boost.
The charity is overwhelmed to have received more than £80,000 in donations generated from the Gift of Life campaign and to have received more than 1,011 messages of support, which are now proudly decorating the charity’s bases and offices and have been shared with staff working from home. In total, 2,220 individuals from across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire responded to this campaign.
East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) in Norwich has been awarded a Memorial Project plaque by the Norfolk Lieutenancy, to commemorate the air ambulance community’s resilience and service during the year of the pandemic.
The Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk, The Lady Dannatt, MBE, visited the EAAA headquarters in Norwich yesterday to present the plaque which recognises the air ambulance charity for its resilience and special service to the Norfolk community during the year of the Covid pandemic. The plaque will be proudly displayed in the main reception of EAAA’s new 24-hour operational base, Helimed House, at Norwich Airport.
On Friday 10 September, East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) celebrated Air Ambulance Week 2021 with a special event in Norwich to mark the official opening of the charity’s newly extended and renovated 24/7 operational base and headquarters at Norwich Airport.
During the event, the base, which is called Helimed House, was also blessed as part of a multi-faith ceremony to wish the air ambulance crews and patients the utmost safety.
22 key figures representing the lifeblood of the charity, including former patients, donors, crew, a staff member and a volunteer, cut a yellow ribbon to officially open the base, which was completed earlier this year.
Building the state-of-the-art facility has been a long-term organisational goal, enabling the charity to operate a 24/7 service by air and road for the first time. The new headquarters will help future-proof the organisation, bring more teams under one roof and provide adequate rest and welfare facilities for the Anglia One crew. The new base also includes an immersive training suite for the clinical teams.
EAAA has revealed that July was the charity’s busiest month on record in over four years and EAAA’s busiest ever July.
The air ambulance charity, which has two teams covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, was tasked 266 times across the region in July. This was 38 times more than in June, where the charity was tasked 228 times, a 16% increase month on month. In comparison, in July 2020 the charity was tasked 247 times and in July 2019 235 times, making July 2021 EAAA’s busiest ever July.
With more people staying in the UK this summer the demand on resources like the air ambulance is expected to increase. In addition, this period covers the charity’s first month of 24/7 flying, making the medical teams available to more people by helicopter during the early hours of the morning. The top three reasons for calling out the air ambulance teams in July were; medical emergency, cardiac arrest and accidental injury.