Figures released by the Wales Air Ambulance on the day the charity marks its 21st birthday, March 1, 2022, have revealed that seriously injured trauma patients attended by the service have a significantly increased chance of survival.

Wales Air Ambulance has become an important part of the critical care provision within Wales. It attends patients who have suffered a serious medical issue as well as those who have received a trauma to the body.

The findings of an in-depth five-year evaluation of the service show that there is a significant 37% reduction in deaths within 30 days amongst patients who received the emergency department-standard care provided by the service’s medics at the scene of an incident.

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The service has also seen a 41% reduction in secondary transfers for patients, vastly exceeding its original target of 30%.

Due to advanced decision-making at the scene of an incident, the service’s medics are able to diagnose the specific needs of a patient and take them directly to the appropriate healthcare facility.

This further reduces the time it takes for a patient to receive the specialist care that they need while saving the NHS time and money by avoiding a secondary transfer; a transfer to one hospital and then a further transfer to a specialist hospital.

The introduction of an advanced service has also attracted more medics to work in Wales.

In the last five years, twelve consultants have taken up roles in Welsh hospitals because of the opportunity to work with the Wales Air Ambulance.

The evaluation, which compared the service’s operational and patient recovery figures with data from nine billion patient records worldwide, has been independently scrutinised by Swansea University, with support from Health Data Research UK and Monash University in Australia.

The report, which examined the 9,952 missions attended by the service between 2015, when changes to the service transformed it into a transformed into a ‘flying emergency department’,and 2020, also reveals that 63% (6,018) of patients received advanced lifesaving treatments.

The service’s consultants and critical care practitioners are able to deliver innovative emergency treatment across Wales, including minor operations, blood transfusions and anaesthesia.

These were previously not available outside of a hospital environment.

However, the service is not just provided by air. The medics can also deliver their lifesaving treatments by road in the charity’s fleet of rapid response vehicles.

While NHS Wales supplies the medics, the Wales Air Ambulance Charity needs to raise £8 million a year to fund the helicopters and rapid response vehicles.

Wales Air Ambulance now operates 24/7, with the introduction of an overnight service in 2020.

Dr Sue Barnes, Wales Air Ambulance Charity chief executive, said: “In the two decades since the launch of the charity, we have evolved into a vital critical care operation.

“Our mission and vision are focused on delivering our lifesaving medical service whenever and wherever it is needed, alongside improving the lives of those we serve.

“Our ability to do this is thanks to our dedicated charity, medical and aviation teams, however, it would not be possible without the incredible support from the people of Wales. There are no words to convey our thanks.

“The key for us now is to ensure that as many people as possible in Wales can benefit from our lifesaving care.”