Significant coverage of the South West

The pre-hospital critical care and enhanced care availability that we have provided during COVID-19 has been significant. One important aspect of our service is that our aircraft can land at non pre-determined landing sites, during the day and at night. This provides our team with the flexibility to land as close and as safely as possible to incident scenes. It also enables us to provide critical care support and cross coverage to the whole of the South West region, no matter the time of day or night

NEXT: On the road with our outreach car

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Help save lives by holding a Brew for the Crew

Brew for the Crew is a self-led, fun, corporate and community fundraising activity which anyone can get involved with. It’s an opportunity to get friends, family, colleagues, or even the wider community together for a catchup, a good old cup of brew and some lovely treats, whilst fundraising to help us continue saving lives across Dorset and Somerset.
Charity Quiz Night in Weymouth
CPR and Defibrillator Awareness Training
“Their knowledge proved crucial that day” - Jonathan's Story

Jonathan Belke was on vacation with his wife in West Lulworth. They decided to walk to Durdle Door from where they were staying and made their way up the hill for a relaxing lunch at Lulworth Cove. Without warning, Jonathan suffered a cardiac arrest.

Operations throughout Covid-19 Video

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance provides a critical care service from 7.00am - 2.00am every day of the year. This video explores how our service has operated during the pandemic.
New approach to caring

Our two patient and family liaison nurses provide a valuable support service to our patients and their families.
Keeping crew and patients safe

Mario Carretta, Unit Chief Pilot, explains how we have maintained flight operations during COVID-19.
On the road with our Outreach Car

Our outreach car continues to be a visible presence in and around the East Dorset area, operating 12 hours a day (10.00am- 10.00pm), seven days a week.
Continued support for patients and their families

Continuation of our patient and family liaison service during the COVID-19 pandemic required pragmatic discussions with SWASfT, our regional NHS networks and hospitals across the region.
Inter-hospital transfer capabilities unchanged

Some emergency patients in hospital have specialist care needs that can only be met in a regional NHS hospital. These patients need to be moved safely and rapidly. This is called a time-critical inter-hospital transfer.
Continuous outreach car provision

Our outreach car has been fully staffed and operational throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Delivering pre-hospital critical care and rapid carriage of patients to hospital by air

The ability to transport patients to hospital by air comes into sharp focus when the patient needs critical care treatment in a specialist centre and that centre is hours away by road from the incident location.
Collaboration and advocacy for change in Public Health England guidance

In the early stages of the pandemic, Public Health England (PHE) provided guidance that patients with suspected COVID-19 disease should not be carried by aircraft.
Provision of a critical care team, 19 hours every day

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has continued to provide pre-hospital critical care to the region throughout the pandemic.