Air ambulance appeal smashed

10:26am Sunday 18th May 2008

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The Hertfordshire Air Ambulance Appeal has smashed its £250,000 target almost a year to the day since the launch of the appeal. Total funds raised stand at £313,000 - exceeding all expectations.

The initial target was reached with a donation of £50,000 from the Gwyneth Forrester Trust.

Angela Hughes from the trust said: "We are delighted to have had the opportunity to help Hertfordshire achieve the launch of its own dedicated service.

"The trust has supported air ambulance services in several counties in recent years and wishes Hertfordshire a successful launch of their new service."

The appeals team is now negotiating to lease its own dedicated air ambulance helicopter complete with an accident and emergency qualified doctor and a paramedic, which will be commissioned initially for a one year period.

The service will be renewed if demand and funds are sustained. A number of helicopter operating companies have responded to tenders for the provision of the new service on a five day week basis and these are currently being assessed for best suitability.

Concurrently, the search is on to identify a suitable location from which to operate the county's life-saving helicopter and negotiations are under way with an airfield operator.

As the NHS does not currently have sufficient funds, the charity is initially budgeting to cover the cost of medical staff as well.

Rob Forsyth, trustee of Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust said: "In just one year, the people of Hertfordshire have taken this campaign to their heart. I'm amazed at the response that we have had and every donation made, large or small, has made a difference.

"My thanks go out to the men, women and children of the county, who have helped us turn our dream into something tangible.

"Of course, this isn't the end of the campaign; in a way, it's just the beginning.

"Now we have to keep the Hertfordshire Air Ambulance flying and to do that we all need to maintain our efforts.

"We can expand the service, for example seven day operation, next generation aircraft - all are on our agenda when funding levels permit. Please, keep up the effort; you never know when you'll need the help of the Hertfordshire Air Ambulance.

"Having a doctor on board the aircraft from the start of the service is a real bonus.

"We will be one of the first counties in the country to launch our helicopter with an A&E qualified registrar on board from the start of operations."