Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) has recently introduced three new critical care cars to their response vehicles, alongside their helicopter.

The cars were purchased thanks to a one-off grant from the Department of Health and Social Care in 2019, and will allow their crew to respond to more people in urgent need across the region.

The charity's team of Critical Care Doctors and Specialist Paramedics respond to people suffering from life-threatening illness or injury, bringing hospital-level care direct to where it's needed most.

In 2020, the charity's critical care cars were more important than ever in keeping their service running, as COVID-19 restrictions meant that their helicopter had to be decontaminated after each mission. They responded to over 70% of their 1,726 missions last year by car, ensuring that those in need could still receive urgent care.

The cars carry exactly the same specialist equipment as the helicopter and allow the crew to get to the scene of a patient quickly. In instances where a patient needs transporting to hospital, the air ambulance crew will accompany them in a land ambulance whilst continuing their critical care on route. Having critical care cars also enables the team to respond to incidents in all weather conditions, when the helicopter may be unsafe to fly in.

Previously, the charity operated two critical care cars that were becoming increasingly unreliable and unfit for purpose, having done many miles since their introduction.

By adding a third car to their fleet, they will now be able to bring their lifesaving care to up to 50 more patients a year.

CEO Anna Perry, said: "Although GWAAC goes to around 2,000 incidents each year, there are even more people in our local communities who could benefit from our service. By adding a third critical care car to our fleet, we can deploy our clinicians to more people who need our expert skills and lifesaving care."

As a charity, they respond to over five critically-ill patients a day on average, many of which are by critical care car. Despite this, a recent survey carried out by the charity showed that 66% of people living in their region didn't expect or didn't know that they responded by car as well as helicopter.

To find out more about GWAAC and their critical care car response, click HERE : the Great Western Air Ambulance site