On Saturday 15th September twelve members of the Club visited the Kent, Sussex and Surrey Air Ambulance base at Marden, this being one of the charities we were supporting at our annual Bank Holiday Classic Car Show at the Polegrove.

We met the crew on duty that day and Don, the paramedic, gave an informative talk on how they operate, assisted by some technical data from the pilot, and introduced the two doctors.   Each crew of four consists of at least one pilot and a minimum of one Specialist Doctor and one paramedic trained in advanced pre-hospital care.   He explained and pointed out the equipment in the helicopter, what was carried in the pockets of their orange outfits, and that packed in their individual bags which they carry to the scene of the incident.

Having heard about the general aspects of the call out we then had an opportunity to talk to members of the team face to face and thus learnt many interesting facts about this worthwhile charity, while those technically minded were able to discuss details of the helicopter with the pilot.   Did you know that although the doctors and paramedics are funded by the NHS the cost of running the helicopter receives no grant from the government and the annual cost of aviation fuel alone is £200,000. without the cost of maintenance of the helicopter and the pilot.   The helicopter is able to put down in a space the size of a tennis court which enables it to get as close as possible to the scene of  an incident and a suitable landing site is chosen in agreement with all the crew members.

We all agreed it had been a most interesting and informative visit.