Air Ambulance Northern Ireland also known as Air Ambulance NI is a registered charity that operates an air medical service dedicated to responding to serious trauma emergencies in Northern Ireland. In August 2016, it was announced by the Northern Irish government that Air Ambulance NI will partner with the health service in Northern Ireland to provide the helicopter emergency medical service. The charity will work in partnership with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service to provide the aviation side of the service and fund the non-medical costs of HEMS, with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service being commissioned to provide the clinical staff, equipment, clinical governance arrangements and operational tasking. The service is primarily based at Maze Long Kesh near Lisburn, with a spare aircraft at the secondary base at St Angelo Airport in County Fermanagh. The helicopter has the call sign Helimed 23 in keeping with the Helimed callsigns of all UK air ambulance helicopters, and will typically transfer patients with serious injuries to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland's major trauma centre.
History
Historically, Northern Ireland has been the only part of the United Kingdom, and Ireland, without air ambulance provision and several previous attempts to introduce a HEMS service failed. A comprehensive report published in February 2004 argued against the provision of an air ambulance service from Scotland in favour of either a separate Northern Ireland service, or one provided as part of an all Ireland coordinated system. The trustees of the AANI came together in December 2013 to commence the process of forming a charity-led company to run an Air Ambulance. Independently in late 2013 Dr John Hinds and other members of the Northern Ireland Regional Faculty of Prehospital care began discussing ways of encouraging the development of a fully-fledged HEMS service at a time when the only air support for casevac was from either Coastguard or PSNI helicopters. After a near fatal accident at the North West 200 motorcycle race in May 2015, Dr Hinds' views received widespread support and he began a public campaign for Northern Ireland to have its own air ambulance. In March 2016, the key findings of a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service consultation were announced. In August 2016, it was announced by the Northern Irish government that Air Ambulance NI would partner with the health service in Northern Ireland to provide the helicopter emergency medical service. The clinical model has from the outset been based on a doctor and paramedic working in partnership, with the doctors seconded from consultant tier emergency medicine and anaesthetic/critical care physicians across Northern Ireland. The doctors undertake the HEMS role on a part-time basis alongside their primary posts in order to maintain clinical and organisational skills on both fronts. The paramedics were drawn from within the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and alongside the doctors have undertaken a comprehensive training programme encompassing clinical skills, crew resource management and flight operations training. The service was scheduled to go live in August 2017 but actually undertook their first live mission on 22 July 2017 while in the midst of one of their final training flights when they were deployed to a child seriously injured in a farming accident near Castlewellan. The child was transferred by helicopter to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.
Funding
In March 2016, Air Ambulance NI were successful in applying to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s banking fines fund, and were awarded £3.5 million to establish and support the HEMS service in Northern Ireland. A further £1m in matched funding thereafter was also pledged. The charity need to raise circa £2m each year to sustain this life saving service.
