HAMPSHIRE and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance has responded to its 20,000th mission since its first flight in 2007.  

The life-saving charity responded to mission number 20,000 on Wednesday 16 October when the paramedic and doctor team responded to an incident in Winchester late at night.

The critical care team attended the incident via one of its emergency response vehicles and provided treatment to a patient who was taken to hospital by road ambulance. 

READ MORE: Hampshire Air Ambulance Aftercare supports 100 patients in first year

The number of call-outs is increasing (Image: Pete Hemsley) This comes as the specialist doctors, dispatchers, pilots and paramedics have responded to almost 2,000 call-outs this year – already surpassing the total for the entirety of 2023 – an increase of almost 40 per cent in the same period as last year.   

July has had the most call-outs for the charity (249) so far this year – the most the service has had in a single month on record.   

The majority of incidents involved cardiac arrest, road traffic collisions and medical emergencies, such as seizures. Other cases included falls from height, assaults and sporting incidents. 

One of those 20,000 deployments was to 81-year-old Utrick Casebourne who sustained life-threatening injuries when he was involved in a road traffic collision on the A31 in October 2023.  

His daughter, Jo, said, “I was left a voicemail from the Emergency Department at 3.20am telling me Dad was there. When I arrived, they told me he was unlikely to make it – and that it was time to say goodbye. It’s so surreal that he is so well now. I was looking at funeral arrangements, hospices, end of life care, and now we’re having breakfast together. Nobody knows when they're going to need the services of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance. It is an absolute lifeline for the patient and the family – often in extreme circumstances.” 

The charity’s CEO Richard Corbett said: “We’re currently charting at around a 40 per cent increase on the same period as last year. That’s an enormous increase in pressure: pressure on our crews to perform more highly skilled, life-saving procedures in extremely testing settings.

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"And it is also pressure on our charity team and our supporters to ensure we can raise enough money to keep the aircraft flying, meet the increased need for drugs, equipment and engineering support. 

“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who continues to back our cause and give our patients the best chance of survival and recovery.”  

The charity recently launched Operation Airbase, a £3.6 million appeal to relocate its airbase to Southampton, near Southampton Airport, to dramatically reduce response times.