When our team receive a call from the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) desk, the dispatcher will explain the nature of the incident (as it has been reported) and provide a grid reference to follow. This is then entered into a tablet and automatically forwarded on to the pilot’s tablet on the aircraft.

By day, all the pilot needs is a location as long as the weather is fine and there are no hazards en-route. This means that immediately after the call from the HEMS desk, the pilot can go and start up the aircraft while the clinicians gather further information. The time between receiving the call and Pegasus lifting is approximately four minutes.

By night, our operating procedures are slightly different as the crew need to take more time planning a mission before they depart (this is described within Night Hems).

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